Photo: Quentin Melson · CC BY-SA 4.0How Shoals works: jobs, income and commuting
About one in ten work in Shoals; the top destination outside it is Jasper (15%, 20 miles). Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers (Indiana 11%). Commuters spend 21 minutes getting to work on average; the Indiana average is 24, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
In and out of Shoals on a workday
On a workday 237 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 339 people come in from elsewhere.
About 780 people are in Shoals on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.39 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.
Commuting out of Shoals: the destinations
Where Shoals clocks in
15% 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.
What the 363 jobs in Shoals are
363 jobs are based in Shoals.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shoals, 2013 → 2023: 335 → 363. 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 Shoals’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Shoals spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shoals workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 277 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Indiana: 85% 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.
How many miles Shoals commutes
About 27% 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.
Shoals and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Halbert Township (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Shoals workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shoals | – | — | — | 21 min | $38,333 |
| Center Township | under 2% | C− | C | 31 min | $60,529 |
| Halbert Township | 8% | C− | D | 32 min | $70,764 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Shoals’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 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 Shoals: questions
What is the median household income in Shoals?
$38,333 (±$15,957) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shoals?
20.5%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shoals?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shoals work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jasper (15%, 20 mi), Halbert Township (8%, 3 mi), Terre Haute (4%, 63 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Shoals without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shoals, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shoals
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.