Household incomes in Sheldon Township trail those of 90% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 17.8% of residents (Illinois 11.8%). The two grades for Sheldon Township are D− for jobs and income and C for walkability. For 2% of workers, the job is at home, where Illinois as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Sheldon Township, in brief
Sheldon Township and Watseka trade workers both ways
Watseka is the top workplace for Sheldon Township residents (32%) and also where the most people who work in Sheldon Township come from (26% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Sheldon Township is a place people come home to
There are 128 jobs based in Sheldon Township, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Sheldon Township has about 810 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 498 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Sheldon Township
On income, poverty and job access, Sheldon Township is better than 4% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Sheldon Township’s grade.
Unemployment (16.7%) is left out: Sheldon Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Sheldon Township could be anywhere from D− to C−.
32% of working residents work in Watseka
Where Sheldon Township clocks in
32% of workers
4% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Sheldon Township
On a workday 488 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 118 people come in from elsewhere.
About 810 people are in Sheldon Township on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.26 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 2024, primary jobs.
Short hops and long hauls from Sheldon Township
About 31% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The kinds of work in Sheldon Township
128 jobs are based in Sheldon Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sheldon Township, 2014 → 2024: 133 → 128. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sheldon Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Sheldon Township: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sheldon Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 584 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Sheldon Township is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sheldon Township is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 4.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 595 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). 9.0% of Sheldon Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sheldon Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Sheldon Township sits among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,991 | Bryson City NC | 1,525 | $44K | 24.3% | 1.0% | 19% | D− |
| 3,992 | McConnellsburg PA | 1,112 | $37K | 22.2% | 2.0% | 8% | D− |
| 3,993 | Sheldon Township IL | 1,177 | $48K | 17.8% | 16.7% | 2% | D− |
| 3,994 | Jackson Township MO | 1,221 | $55K | 20.9% | 7.5% | 4% | D− |
| 3,995 | Willow Creek CA | 1,076 | $47K | 15.8% | 6.4% | 14% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Sheldon Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
The towns around Sheldon Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sheldon Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheldon Township | – | D− | C | 20 min | $47,656 |
| Concord Township | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Belmont Township | under 2% | C+ | B | 21 min | $73,333 |
| Stockland Township | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Concord Township and Stockland Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sheldon Township’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Sheldon Township: questions
What is the median household income in Sheldon Township?
$47,656 (±$14,049) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sheldon Township?
17.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sheldon Township?
20 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sheldon Township work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Watseka (32%, 8 mi), Gilman (4%, 22 mi), Kankakee (4%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Sheldon Township walkable?
Sheldon Township is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sheldon Township 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 Sheldon Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sheldon Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.