HomeAlabamaShelby CountyHelena city
Helena city, Alabama: commercial real estate data.
Helena city is a Census city of 21,769 people across 22.33 square miles of land, lying across Shelby County and Jefferson County. Median household income is $115,139, 91.1 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 27 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $15.2 m.
77 sourced place values · tier FULL · 8 sections
Helena
What Helena is
- Census place typecity
- Land area22.33 sq mi
- Water area0.32 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land975
- County holding the largest share of its areaShelby County, 88.3 percent
- Counties this place lies inShelby County 88.3 percent, Jefferson County 11.7 percent
Helena city crosses a county line. The split above is measured from the Census boundary of the place against the county boundaries, by area, so it says where the ground is and not where the town hall is.
US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Helena
How many people live in Helena
- Population21,769
- Median age37.8
- Population under 186,013
- Share under 1827.6 percent
- Population 65 and over2,740
- Share 65 and over12.6 percent
- Households7,613
- Family households5,929
- Share of households that are families77.9 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Helena
Income and work in Helena
- Median household income$115,139
- Per capita income$52,640
- Civilian labor force11,830
- Employed11,597
- Unemployed233 plus or minus 102
- Unemployment rate2.0 percent plus or minus 0.9
- Adults 25 and over14,301
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher97.5 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher51.4 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree16.9 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Helena
Housing in Helena
- Housing units8,092
- Occupied units7,613
- Vacant units479 plus or minus 216
- Vacancy rate5.9 percent plus or minus 2.7
- Owner occupied6,936
- Renter occupied677 plus or minus 194
- Ownership rate91.1 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$330,700
- Median gross rent, monthly$1,574
- Annual rent as a share of median income16.4 percent
- Single family units7,835
- Share single family96.8 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more208 plus or minus 141
- Share in buildings of two or more2.6 percent plus or minus 1.7
- Mobile homes49 plus or minus 53
- Median year structure built2001
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Helena
How Helena gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute9,276
- Commuting under 15 minutes1,587 plus or minus 368
- Share commuting under 15 minutes17.1 percent plus or minus 3.8
- Commuting 30 minutes or more5,469
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more59.0 percent
- Drove alone73.0 percent
- Carpooled6.1 percent plus or minus 1.8
- Public transport0.0 percent
- Walked0.4 percent plus or minus 0.4
- Worked from home19.5 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Helena
SBA 7(a) lending to Helena borrowers
- Approvals27
- Gross approval$15,181,300
- Average approval$562,270
- Median approval$265,000
- Ninetieth percentile approval$1,035,500
- Largest approval$3,770,000
- Jobs supported212
- Jobs per approval7.9
- Loans with a final outcome3
- Paid in full3
- Charged off0
- Median term120 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more14.8 percent
- Share to franchises7.4 percent
- Distinct lenders16
- Distinct industries by NAICS19
A charge-off rate is not published here. only 3 resolved loans, too few to publish a rate, and a rate over that few outcomes would move several points on one loan.
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Helena
SBA 504 lending to Helena borrowers
- Approvals3
- Gross approval$985,000
- Average approval$328,333
- Median approval$207,000
- Largest approval$653,000
- Jobs supported9
- Loans with a final outcome0
- Charged off0
- Median term240 months
- Distinct CDCs2
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Shelby County, not Helena
Shelby County context, not Helena figures
These are Shelby County figures. There is no place level equivalent published for any of them, so they are shown as the county backdrop and never as Helena measurements.
- Establishments in Shelby County5,610
- Employment at those establishments, Shelby County87,718
- Covered employment, Shelby County85,169
- Average annual pay, Shelby County$66,772
- Average weekly wage, Shelby County$1,284
- Housing units permitted, Shelby County990
- Of those, single family, Shelby County990
- County product, 2024, Shelby County$17,332,832,000
- County product change over the prior year, Shelby County3.6 percent
- Average income of an arriving household, Shelby County$90,316
Every figure in this section is published for Shelby County as a whole and is not a measurement of Helena. It is here because a county backdrop is what a credit committee reads a place against, and it is labelled so that it can never be quoted as the place's own.
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages. US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual. US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional, table CAGDP2, CAGDP2, through 2024. US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.
Coverage
What this page does not hold.
Every item below could be filled with a plausible figure. None of them is. On a page a lender may read, a number that cannot be traced is worse than an absence, so the absences are named.
- This place is not listed as a community in the FEMA Community Status Book, so no NFIP participation or CRS class is shown.
- Parcel level detail, zoning and flood zone at an address are resolved in the platform, not on this page.
SBA figures count approvals to borrowers whose address is in the place. They are not approvals for projects inside the place boundary: the tape records a borrower city and a project county, and those can differ.
Common questions
Helena questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in Helena, Alabama?
21,769, in 7,613 households. Helena city covers 22.33 square miles of land, which is 975 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is Helena in?
Helena lies in more than one. By area it is 88.3 percent in Shelby County, 11.7 percent in Jefferson County. This page sits under Shelby County because that county holds the largest share. The split is measured from the Census boundary of the place against the county boundaries.
What is the median household income in Helena?
$115,139. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $330,700. Median gross rent is $1,574 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to Helena businesses?
27 7(a) approvals totalling $15.2 m, across 16 lenders, median approval $265,000, plus 3 504 approvals worth $985,000. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in Helena, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to Helena borrowers get paid back?
No rate is published for Helena. only 3 resolved loans, too few to publish a rate, and a percentage over that few outcomes would move several points on a single loan. The counts are shown instead.
Are the county figures on this page Helena figures?
No, and they are labelled so. County Business Patterns, QCEW, the Building Permits Survey, BEA product and IRS migration are published for Shelby County as a whole and there is no place level equivalent. They appear in one clearly marked section as context and are never presented as measurements of Helena.
Is zoning published for Helena?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.