Best PlacesShelby Gap, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shelby Gap, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Shelby Gap ranks 48,782nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Shelby Gap
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Shelby Gap's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shelby Gap ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Cheap childcare$545 a month, better than 88% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of towns
Where Shelby Gap ranks low
- Short commute49.6 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$39,001 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Shelby Gap
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shelby Gap home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $39,001, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Shelby Gap's effective rate of 0.66%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Shelby Gap
Shelby Gap runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Shelby Gap.
Who works in Shelby Gap, and how
Work in Shelby Gap centers on health care & social and other services. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Shelby Gap
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Shelby Gap.
What the weather is like in Shelby Gap, month by month
Shelby Gap sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 34° | 28° |
| April | 64° | 54° | 45° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Shelby Gap
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shelby Gap
Schools across Shelby Gap average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dorton Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- James D. Adams Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Ridgeview HighA− · 63% proficient
- Shelby Valley High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shelby Gap school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shelby Gap measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Shelby Gap against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Shelby Gap
Is Shelby Gap a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shelby Gap ranks 48,782nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, heat safety, and affordable childcare, and lowest on long commutes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shelby Gap expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $149,649. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $39,001 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Shelby Gap safe?
Yes, Shelby Gap is safer than 63% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $239 per resident a year.
Compare Shelby Gap with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shelby Gap. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shelby Gap represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Shelby Gap detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shelby Gap: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shelby Gap: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shelby Gap: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shelby Gap: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shelby Gap detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.