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Welcome to Helena ...

The city of Helena is primarily located in Shelby County<1>. A portion of Helena extends into Jefferson County.

Helena was established in 1845.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Helena has a population of 19,869 people<2> (see below for details).

The community of Helena is 430 feet [131 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Helena lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Helena: 205 & 659<4>

The ZIP code for Helena: 35080<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Helena had an population of 19,869 people. This is an increase of 18.32% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 92.98% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Helena had a population of 16,793 people (which is 8.57% of the total population of Shelby County). This makes Helena the county's 3rd most populous community.

The population of Helena represents 0.35% of the total population of Alabama (which has 4,779,736 people), making it the state's 34th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 16,793 people, the population of Helena increased 63.1% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 10,296 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Helena.

Communities Also Named Helena ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 35 communities that are also named Helena - they are located in Arizona, Arkansas, California (2), Florida, Georgia, Idaho (2), Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan (3), Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri (2), Montana, Nebraska, Nevada (2), New York, North Carolina (2), North Dakota, Ohio (2), Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Helena.

Communities near Helena ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Helena.

  • Birmingham
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Hoover
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoover
    • Hoover is located in Jefferson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 85,959 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hoover <6>
  • Vestavia Hills
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Bessemer
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Homewood
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Homewood have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
    • Homewood is located in Jefferson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,174 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homewood <6>
  • Pelham
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pelham have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
    • Pelham is located in Shelby County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,231 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pelham <6>
  • Mountain Brook
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain Brook have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Brook
    • Mountain Brook is located in Jefferson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,034 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mountain Brook <6>
  • Calera
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Hueytown
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Chelsea
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Helena. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Helena.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Helena. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Helena.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Helena. See our Newspapers Page for Helena.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Helena ...

Looking for more information about Helena? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Helena, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Helena.

Adding Helena to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Helena in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Helena was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

X2X - From that list, the Helena post office opened in 1872.

We also found Helena in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Helena.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Helena. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Shelby County: www.shelbycountyalabama.com/

The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Alabama's counties, including Shelby, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Helena.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Helena - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 205 code has been Overlayed with the 659 area code. New phone numbers in the Helena area will be assigned with one of these codes: 205 or 659. As a result, placing a call in the Helena area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Helena). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Helena or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 12 Jul 2025