Shelby has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
There are 189 jobs in Shelby, against 378 working residents. Only 3% work in Shelby itself; outside it, Birmingham draws the most (12%, 32 miles). For 0% of workers, the job is at home, where Alabama as a whole has 9%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Shelby apart
Shelby’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Shelby is Birmingham, 32 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (45) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Shelby workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 9% across Alabama. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 378 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Shelby’s commute, mile by mile
About 18% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
From Shelby, about 24 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shelby workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 314 commuters (the 0% who work from home are left out). Across Alabama: 88% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How a workday changes Shelby
On a workday 368 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 179 people come in from elsewhere.
About 620 people are in Shelby on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Shelby ends
Where Shelby clocks in
12% of workers
8% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
In Shelby, 38% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shelby, 2013 → 2023: 188 → 189. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Shelby’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Shelby: questions
What is the poverty rate in Shelby?
21.4%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shelby?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shelby work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (12%, 32 mi), Hoover (8%, 23 mi), Alabaster (8%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Shelby without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shelby, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shelby
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.