Shelby Gap, Kentucky.
Typical home $85,059 (-6.1% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$196 (+78%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Down $5,543 -6%
- $90,602$85,059 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $1,181 +1%
- $83,878$85,059 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Shelby Gap$446
- Kentucky$1,212
- United States$1,922
Typical home values in Shelby Gap, KY fell 6.1% over the past year — slower than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Shelby Gap, Pike County, Kentucky
The Census does not count Shelby Gap on its own, so the figures here are Pike County's. Half the county's households earn more than $44,312 a year and half less; 24% of the county's people live below the poverty line. 75% of the county's homes are lived in by their owners and 25% are rented. Unemployment in Pike County was 6.1% in August 2026, and the county had 1.9% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Pike County work in schools and health care, then shops.
Written by AI Claude Haiku 5.5 wrote this on 22 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Shelby Gap is a small town in Pike County, in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, where coal mining has long shaped the land and the way of life. Across Pike County, most homes are lived in by their owners, and many households earn less than the typical household across the country. Winters are colder than in most of the country and bring a good deal of snow, while summers are warm and the year is wet.
Work. Across Pike County, jobs fell slightly last year, and unemployment is holding steady. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, or in restaurants, hotels and entertainment, with professional and business services also a major source of work. Fewer adults hold a four-year degree than across most of the country, and few people work from home.
Things to do. Pine Mountain Trail State Park is a protected area in or beside town, which makes it an easy place to go for walks outdoors. The Cranes Nest River, a short drive away, is a good spot for time by the water. The David A. Zegeer Coal-Railroad Museum, also a short drive away, looks back at the region's coal and railroad history, and the Ralph Stanley Museum, a short drive away, honors the bluegrass musician from this part of the mountains.
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- 24,284households
- 43.3median age
- 18%of adults have a degree
- 24%below the poverty line
- 25 mintypical commute
- 6%work from home
What people in Pike County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Pike County had 20,166 jobs in 2025, 1.9% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 42° and lows near 22°; warmest in July, with highs near 82° and lows near 61°. About 38 inches of snow and 49 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Clintwood 1W weather station, 6 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Pike County
- Pikeville Medical CenterGeneral hospital2,832FTE
- Pike County SchoolsSchool district1,340FTE
- University of PikevilleUniversity or college440
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters438
- KYTC District 12321
- Kellogg CompanyBakery products, dry, manufacturing314
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters273
- TUG Valley ARHGeneral hospital272FTE
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 41 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 4,157 people in all. Hospitals come from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023), school districts from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and colleges from IPEDS (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- LandslidesRelatively high
- Inland floodingRelatively high
- WildfireRelatively moderate
- Winter weatherRelatively moderate
- Strong windRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms across Pike County, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Pike County.
Shelby Gap home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Shelby Gap$85,059
- Kentucky$230,909
- United States$366,157
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Zip codes with a Shelby Gap address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Shelby Gap — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.