Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainWith 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Shelton works elsewhere
3% of workers have no commute at all, next to 11% for Nebraska as a whole. There are 132 jobs in Shelton, against 493 working residents. Shelton grades B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Shelton: the gist
One in three of Shelton works in Kearney
166 working residents, 34%, have their main job in Kearney, 19 miles away. That’s 11 times as many as work in Shelton itself. The commute map ↓
Shelton is a place people come home to
There are 132 jobs based in Shelton, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Shelton has about 680 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Shelton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 26 minutes each way, against 19 across Nebraska. Over a year that’s about 199 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical 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; with 493 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Shelton
On income, poverty and job access, Shelton is better than 53% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Shelton’s grade up (6.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 28% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (5.9%) is left out: Shelton’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, Shelton could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
34% of working residents work in Kearney
Where Shelton clocks in
34% of workers
11% 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 Shelton
On a workday 478 residents head out to work, 15 work right here, and 117 people come in from elsewhere.
About 680 people are in Shelton 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.
Time on the road from Shelton: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shelton workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 728 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Nebraska: 86% 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.
The kinds of work in Shelton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shelton, 2013 → 2023: 180 → 132. 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 Shelton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Shelton
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.
For most of Shelton, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shelton is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Shelton 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 750 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.8% of Shelton households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Shelton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Shelton places 943rd of 3,133 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 132 | Pohocco Township NE | 1,296 | $100K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 176 | Arlington NE | 1,329 | $94K | 3.1% | 0.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 189 | Fort Calhoun NE | 1,108 | $102K | 6.9% | 2.1% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 941 | Clay Township IN | 1,081 | $75K | 6.1% | 3.7% | 1% | B− |
| 942 | Camp Creek Township OH | 1,012 | $79K | 4.1% | 4.5% | 1% | B− |
| 943 | Shelton NE | 1,042 | $81K | 6.8% | 5.9% | 3% | B− |
| 944 | Greenback TN | 1,251 | $73K | 9.9% | 4.1% | 2% | B− |
| 945 | Buckeye Township IL | 1,170 | $76K | 7.1% | 4.3% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Shelton, the top three, the last and three more from Nebraska.
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 Shelton: questions
What is the median household income in Shelton?
$81,278 (±$6,546) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shelton?
6.8%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shelton?
26 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shelton work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kearney (34%, 19 mi), Grand Island (11%, 22 mi), Gibbon (9%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Shelton walkable?
Shelton is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shelton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shelton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shelton
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.