Household incomes in Shively trail those of 88% of U.S. towns
14.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 16.1% across Kentucky. The two grades for Shively are C for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 6.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 4.7 in Louisville.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Shively: the figures worth knowing
Shively and Louisville trade workers both ways
Louisville is the top workplace for Shively residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Shively come from (31% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Shively residents work close to home
67% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Shively’s working residents have a job less than 7 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 26 minutes, longer than the Kentucky average of 24. 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.
Jobs & income in Shively: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Shively is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #79 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Shively’s grade up (ahead of 89% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($50,221, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Shively could be anywhere from C− to B−.
28% of working residents work in Louisville
Where Shively clocks in
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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Shively
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.
About 26 minutes each way, about the KY average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shively workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,738 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 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.
A workday in Shively: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 6,624 residents head out to work, 195 work right here, and 4,668 people come in from elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are in Shively on a workday afternoon, 12% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 34% of the jobs in Shively
4,863 jobs are based in Shively.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shively, 2013 → 2023: 4,641 → 4,863. 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 Shively’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Shively
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shively is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #9 of 142 in Kentucky. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 3.1% across Kentucky.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,694 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 96% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 24% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 87% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.0% of Shively households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Shively’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Shively is 1,654th of 2,109 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 328 | Burlington KY | 18,008 | $109K | 5.5% | 2.5% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 485 | Fort Thomas KY | 17,142 | $104K | 6.1% | 3.5% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 761 | Mount Washington KY | 18,989 | $96K | 5.3% | 4.6% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,652 | Englewood FL | 20,091 | $69K | 8.5% | 6.0% | 14% | C |
| 1,653 | Gardere LA | 12,223 | $55K | 35.3% | 4.9% | 1% | C |
| 1,654 | Shively KY | 15,895 | $50K | 14.7% | 6.9% | 3% | C |
| 1,655 | Richmond TX | 13,389 | $50K | 15.7% | 7.0% | 3% | C |
| 1,656 | Los Lunas NM | 20,572 | $62K | 18.2% | 4.9% | 17% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Shively, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
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 Shively: questions
What is the median household income in Shively?
$50,221 (±$4,288) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shively?
14.7%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shively?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shively work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Louisville (28%, 8 mi), Watterson Park (5%, 7 mi), Jeffersontown (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Shively walkable?
Shively is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shively without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 24% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shively, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shively
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.