Sheldon has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 1% work in Sheldon itself; outside it, Watseka draws the most (32%, 9 miles). Sheldon has 65 jobs for 394 working residents. For 2% of workers, the job is at home, against 16% across Illinois.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Sheldon in brief
Sheldon and Watseka trade workers both ways
Watseka is the top workplace for Sheldon residents (32%) and also where the most people who work in Sheldon come from (23% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Sheldon is a place people come home to
There are 65 jobs based in Sheldon, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Sheldon has about 600 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 394 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where the trip to work from Sheldon ends
Where Sheldon clocks in
32% 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.
How a workday changes Sheldon
On a workday 389 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 60 people come in from elsewhere.
About 600 people are in Sheldon on a workday afternoon, 35% 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.
Half of Sheldon commutes less than 23 miles
About 34% 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.
The kinds of work in Sheldon
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sheldon, 2013 → 2023: 94 → 65. 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 Sheldon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 21 minutes from Sheldon
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sheldon workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 520 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.
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 Sheldon: questions
What is the median household income in Sheldon?
$44,280 (±$8,146) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sheldon?
19.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sheldon?
21 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 work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Watseka (32%, 9 mi), Chicago (5%, 74 mi), Kankakee (4%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Sheldon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sheldon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sheldon
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.