Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0A job hub: Shelby has 2.3 jobs per working resident, and 726 people come in to work
Only 7% work in Shelby itself; outside it, Harlan draws the most (22%, 12 miles). 749 jobs are based in Shelby, against 325 working residents. Commuters spend 30 minutes getting to work on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Shelby: the gist
Stores, warehouses and trucking
86% of the jobs in Shelby are in trade, transport and utilities, against 30% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Shelby is where the jobs are
Shelby has 749 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,200 people are in town, 58% more than the 730 who live here. Day and night ↓
Shelby workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical worker. 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 325 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The kinds of work in Shelby
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shelby, 2013 → 2023: 891 → 749. 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.
Shelby fills up on a workday
On a workday 302 residents head out to work and 23 work right here.
About 1,200 people are in Shelby on a workday afternoon, 58% more 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.
A commute of about 30 minutes in Shelby
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shelby workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 367 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Iowa: 86% 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.
Where the people who work in Shelby live
Where Shelby clocks in
22% of workers
11% of workers
9% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Shelby
About 17% 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.
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 median household income in Shelby?
$63,654 (±$14,212) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shelby?
10.2%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shelby?
30 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shelby work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harlan (22%, 12 mi), Omaha (11%, 36 mi), Council Bluffs (9%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Shelby without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% 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.