Photo: Matthew Shaw00 · CC BY-SA 4.0Shenandoah has higher unemployment (6.4%) than 78% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Shenandoah; the top destination outside it is Clarinda (6%, 18 miles). Jobs and income earn Shenandoah D; getting around on foot earns it A. 1% of workers work from home, next to 11% for Iowa as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Shenandoah, in brief
Few Shenandoah workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 11% across Iowa. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Shenandoah are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Iowa 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.
Why Shenandoah gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Shenandoah is better than 9% of U.S. towns, #136 of 140 in Iowa. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Shenandoah’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Shenandoah could be anywhere from D− to C.
How long Shenandoah spends getting to work: about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shenandoah workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,110 commuters (the 1% 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.
Shenandoah by day and by night
On a workday 1,329 residents head out to work, 807 work right here, and 1,439 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.05 per resident).
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 Shenandoah’s working residents head each day
Where Shenandoah clocks in
6% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
Inside Shenandoah’s 2,246 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shenandoah, 2013 → 2023: 2,182 → 2,246. 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 Shenandoah’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Shenandoah
About 21% 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.
Shenandoah is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shenandoah is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #15 of 140 in Iowa. Both inputs place Shenandoah near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,141 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 13.7% of Shenandoah households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Shenandoah’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Shenandoah compares with U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 207 | Asbury IA | 6,035 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 237 | Huxley IA | 4,715 | $112K | 4.5% | 1.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 318 | Windsor Heights IA | 5,059 | $92K | 6.2% | 1.4% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,462 | Washington Township PA | 3,659 | $40K | 31.0% | 9.3% | 3% | D |
| 3,463 | Sparta IL | 4,022 | $52K | 24.4% | 6.3% | 28% | D |
| 3,464 | Shenandoah IA | 4,808 | $60K | 21.0% | 6.4% | 38% | D |
| 3,465 | Leakesville MS | 3,732 | $68K | 20.4% | 14.2% | 15% | D |
| 3,466 | Rockwood TN | 5,607 | $48K | 22.1% | 10.5% | 7% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Shenandoah, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
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 Shenandoah: questions
What is the median household income in Shenandoah?
$59,783 (±$9,811) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shenandoah?
21.0%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shenandoah?
15 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shenandoah work?
38% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Clarinda (6%, 18 mi), Council Bluffs (5%, 42 mi), Omaha (4%, 50 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Shenandoah walkable?
Shenandoah is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shenandoah without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shenandoah, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shenandoah
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.