Photo: Sociotard · CC BY 3.0For about two in five of its working residents, Shelley is a commute to Idaho Falls
A typical one-way commute lasts 20 minutes, next to 22 for Idaho and 26 for the U.S. About one in ten work in Shelley; the top destination outside it is Idaho Falls (42%, 9 miles). Household incomes here are higher than in 53% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Shelley: the figures worth knowing
42% of Shelley works in Idaho Falls
869 working residents, 42%, have their main job in Idaho Falls, 8.8 miles away. That’s 4 times as many as work in Shelley itself. The commute map ↓
Shelley makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in Shelley are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Shelley residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Shelley pay little
26% of the jobs based in Shelley pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
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 Shelley gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Shelley is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #33 of 59 in Idaho. Household income holds Shelley’s grade up ($77,563, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (7.0%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Shelley could be anywhere from D to A−.
Where the trip to work from Shelley ends
Where Shelley clocks in
42% of workers
3% 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.
Goods jobs make up 37% of work in Shelley
1,492 jobs are based in Shelley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shelley, 2013 → 2023: 1,134 → 1,492. 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 Shelley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Shelley by day
On a workday 1,847 residents head out to work, 245 work right here, and 1,247 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,700 people are in Shelley on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.71 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
About 20 minutes to work from Shelley
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shelley workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,047 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across Idaho: 84% 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.
Half of Shelley commutes less than 10 miles
About 15% 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.
Driving is how Shelley gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shelley is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns, #36 of 59 in Idaho. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.5% across Idaho, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,252 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). 1.9% of Shelley households have no vehicle (Idaho 3.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Shelley’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Shelley ranks: 2,459th of 3,651 U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,374 | Rigby ID | 5,757 | $85K | 9.7% | 2.2% | 12% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,514 | Kimberly ID | 5,798 | $98K | 19.3% | 0.0% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,150 | Lincoln ID | 4,002 | $84K | 18.4% | 4.5% | 2% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,457 | Rosendale NY | 5,689 | $72K | 8.5% | 7.8% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,458 | Union Township OH | 4,358 | $71K | 10.6% | 4.8% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,459 | Shelley ID | 5,303 | $78K | 10.8% | 7.0% | 12% | C+ |
| 2,460 | Alturas FL | 4,581 | $70K | 15.5% | 3.7% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,461 | Nottawa Township MI | 3,808 | $62K | 12.5% | 3.1% | 8% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,651 | 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 Shelley, the top three, the last and three more from Idaho.
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 Shelley: questions
What is the median household income in Shelley?
$77,563 (±$19,349) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shelley?
10.8%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shelley?
20 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shelley work?
12% work in town.
Is Shelley walkable?
Shelley is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shelley without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shelley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shelley
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.