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Shelby, North Carolina has 14 accredited schools offering fire science programs, with tuition ranging from $2,064 to $34,760 per year for indexed programs. Shelby has a population of about 21,868. Median household income is $50,705 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 26.6% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In North Carolina, the top-earning fire science-related role is Emergency Management Director at a median $93,840 annually (BLS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer fire science programs near Shelby, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Shelby city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Shelby. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all North Carolina schools on the North Carolina fire science page.
| Occupation | Median Annual Wage (North Carolina, statewide) |
|---|---|
| Firefighter | $37,940 |
| First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers | $59,560 |
| Fire Inspector and Investigator | $66,820 |
| Emergency Management Director | $93,840 |
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 21,868 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003) |
| Median household income | $50,705 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013) |
| Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+ | 26.6% | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003) |
Our directory has 14 accredited schools offering fire science programs near Shelby. The closest is Cleveland Community College in Shelby, NC (2.8 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Piedmont Technical College (81.6 miles). 10 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
Based on BLS May 2025 state wage data, the top-paying fire science-related roles in North Carolina are: Emergency Management Director ($93,840), Fire Inspector and Investigator ($66,820), First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers ($59,560). Wages for Shelby workers will track these statewide medians, adjusted for local cost of living.
Gaffney, SC is 16.2 miles from Shelby and has its own set of local fire science programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
Shelby’s median household income of $50,705 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Shelby while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and North Carolina public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Shelby:
Data verified: August 11, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
