Shelby is a medium-sized city located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 21,855 people and 12 associated neighborhoods, Shelby is the 45th largest community in North Carolina.

A relatively large number of people in Shelby telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 9.25% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Shelby is a small city, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.

The citizens of Shelby are slightly better educated than the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns, with 24.43% of adults in Shelby having a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Shelby in 2022 was $28,414, which is middle income relative to North Carolina, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $113,656 for a family of four. However, Shelby contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Shelby is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Shelby home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Shelby residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Shelby include English, German, Irish, Scots-Irish, and European.

The most common language spoken in Shelby is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.