Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainWith 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Sheldahl works elsewhere
Working residents average 28 minutes each way (Iowa 20, U.S. 26). There are 12 jobs in Sheldahl for 171 working residents. Hardly any work in Sheldahl itself; outside it, Ames draws the most (15%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in Sheldahl, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 171 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 12 people come in from elsewhere.
About 150 people are in Sheldahl on a workday afternoon, 52% 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.
Commuting out of Sheldahl: the destinations
Where Sheldahl clocks in
15% of workers
15% 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.
A place that makes things: 83% of Sheldahl’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sheldahl, 2013 → 2023: 14 → 12. 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 Sheldahl’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Sheldahl
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sheldahl workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 134 commuters (the 15% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Sheldahl
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 Sheldahl: questions
What is the median household income in Sheldahl?
$80,938 (±$15,965) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sheldahl?
5.1%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sheldahl?
28 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sheldahl work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ames (15%, 12 mi), Ankeny (15%, 10 mi), Des Moines (15%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Sheldahl without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sheldahl, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sheldahl
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.