Photo: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: · CC BY-SA 3.0Shelby’s household incomes are lower than in 76% of U.S. towns
Shelby grades C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Below the poverty line: 13.8% of residents, next to 11.5% across Montana. About two in five stay in Shelby for work; outside it, Great Falls is the main destination (8%, 74 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Shelby
Shelby’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Shelby is Great Falls, 74 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (80) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
39% 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 ↓
Commutes from Shelby are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 19 across Montana. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Montana worker. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Shelby
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Shelby is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #36 of 42 in Montana. Unemployment holds Shelby’s grade up (3.7%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 3% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Shelby could be anywhere from D to B−.
Where in the region Shelby works
About 39% 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.
Time on the road from Shelby: about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shelby workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,253 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Montana: 81% 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 people are in Shelby by day
On a workday 601 residents head out to work, 420 work right here, and 637 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.04 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.
The towns that employ Shelby’s residents
Where Shelby clocks in
8% of workers
5% 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.
The kinds of work in Shelby
1,057 jobs are based in Shelby.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shelby, 2013 → 2023: 1,327 → 1,057. 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 Shelby’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Few in Shelby walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shelby is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #32 of 42 in Montana. Both inputs place Shelby near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,344 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). 10.1% of Shelby households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Shelby’s commuters take a bus or train.
Shelby is 3,660th of 4,593 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,500 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 882 | Lolo MT | 4,314 | $86K | 5.3% | 0.8% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 964 | Big Sky MT | 2,445 | $139K | 4.7% | 1.4% | 68% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,154 | Montana City MT | 3,092 | $130K | 1.8% | 3.9% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,658 | Burnettown SC | 3,267 | $50K | 19.6% | 6.4% | 1% | C− |
| 3,659 | Ridgecrest FL | 3,571 | $50K | 21.1% | 10.4% | 1% | C− |
| 3,660 | Shelby MT | 3,313 | $58K | 13.8% | 3.7% | 41% | C− |
| 3,661 | Auburn NE | 3,498 | $58K | 14.1% | 4.1% | 32% | C− |
| 3,662 | Big Lake TX | 2,783 | $71K | 12.2% | 5.6% | 28% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | 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 Shelby, the top three, the last and three more from Montana.
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 Shelby: questions
What is the median household income in Shelby?
$58,413 (±$10,934) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shelby?
13.8%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shelby?
14 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shelby work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Great Falls (8%, 74 mi), Helena (5%, 132 mi), Billings (3%, 244 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Shelby walkable?
Shelby is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shelby 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 Shelby, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shelby
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.