This study purposes to diagnose shrinking cities in terms of population decline and economic activity, then comparatively evaluate the socioeconomic characteristics between shrinking cities and non-shrinking cities. Since even cities classified as shrinking cities may exhibit different socioeconomic characteristics, in particular, this study classifies shrinking cities in terms of a variety of socio-economic variables including society, culture, welfare, education, and medical care. The results show that the selected 76 shrinking cities are in worse conditions than non-shrinking cities in all areas only except for medical care. This means that shrinking cities are highly likely to face a double crisis: fiscal austerity and a very small portion of the social welfare budget on one hand, and the expected increase in demand for social welfare and improvements in the physical environment on the other. Additionally, the cluster analysis categorizes those 76 shrinking cities into four types and these four types of shrinking cities have different characteristics, not only in terms of the rate of change in population and the total number of businesses but also in all areas of society, culture, welfare, education, and medical care. These findings suggest that rather than simply pursuing uniform policis focusing on population and economic decline, shrinking cities need to undertake a thorough analysis of local socioeconomic conditions and problems, and then utilize a strategy of selection and concentration under limited resources and budget constraints.