Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Shell Valley earn less than those in 91% of U.S. towns
Shell Valley grades D− for jobs and income and D− for walkability. 21.5% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.8% across North Dakota. Hardly any stay in Shell Valley for work; outside it, Belcourt is the main destination (49%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Shell Valley at work: what stands out
Nearly half of Shell Valley works in Belcourt
185 working residents, 49%, have their main job in Belcourt, 4.4 miles away. That’s far more as work in Shell Valley itself. The commute map ↓
Most Shell Valley residents work close to home
77% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
Shell Valley is a place people come home to
There are 24 jobs based in Shell Valley, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Shell Valley has about 890 people in it, 28% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 375 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Shell Valley’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Shell Valley is better than 2% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Shell Valley’s grade.
Unemployment (9.8%) is left out: Shell Valley’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, Shell Valley could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Commuting out of Shell Valley: the destinations
Where Shell Valley clocks in
49% 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 far it is to work from Shell Valley
About 17% 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.
Who works in Shell Valley, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 374 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 23 people come in from elsewhere.
About 890 people are in Shell Valley on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.06 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.
Making and building: 33% of jobs based in Shell Valley
24 jobs are based in Shell Valley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
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 Shell Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 18 minutes from Shell Valley
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shell Valley workers work from home, vs 8% across North Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 366 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across North Dakota: 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.
For most of Shell Valley, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shell Valley is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Shell Valley 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 391 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). 12.2% of Shell Valley households have no vehicle (North Dakota 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Shell Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Shell Valley compares with U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Reed Township ND | 1,151 | $131K | 0.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 169 | Williston Township ND | 1,116 | $250K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 332 | Sundre Township ND | 1,024 | $107K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,679 | Pahoa HI | 1,361 | $56K | 34.7% | 7.5% | 11% | D− |
| 4,680 | Iyanbito NM | 1,233 | $53K | 32.2% | 15.4% | 3% | D− |
| 4,681 | Shell Valley ND | 1,243 | $47K | 21.5% | 9.8% | <1% | D− |
| 4,682 | Double Springs AL | 1,107 | $48K | 28.7% | 9.4% | 20% | D− |
| 4,683 | Rochelle GA | 1,146 | $42K | 23.8% | 4.3% | 8% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Shell Valley, the top three, the last and three more from North Dakota.
Work in the towns next to Shell Valley
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Shell Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shell Valley | – | D− | D− | 18 min | $46,786 |
| Shell Valley Township | under 1% | — | — | 12 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Shell Valley Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Shell Valley’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 Shell Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Shell Valley?
$46,786 (±$44,592) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,657 across North Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shell Valley?
21.5%, against 10.8% across North Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shell Valley?
18 minutes each way on average, against 18 across North Dakota and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shell Valley work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Belcourt (49%, 4 mi), Rolette (5%, 10 mi), Rolla (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Shell Valley walkable?
Shell Valley is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shell Valley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shell Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shell Valley
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.