Millville Cemetery · Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Shelby earn less than those in 65% of U.S. towns
Shelby grades C+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. The poverty rate is 12.5%, where New York as a whole has 14.0%. About one in seven work in Shelby itself; outside it, Ridgeway draws the most (14%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Shelby at work: what stands out
Shelby trades workers with the towns around it
Shelby has about as many jobs (2,489) as working residents (2,213), but they are mostly different people: 1,897 residents leave for work each day while 2,173 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in Shelby are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Shelby are quick
The average trip to work takes 26 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York 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.
Income, poverty and work: Shelby’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Shelby is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #533 of 758 in New York. Unemployment holds Shelby’s grade up (4.2%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($65,655, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Shelby could be anywhere from D to B+.
A workday in Shelby: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,897 residents head out to work, 316 work right here, and 2,173 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 (1.12 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.
Shelby’s commute takes 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 Shelby workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,023 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The towns that employ Shelby’s residents
Where Shelby clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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 work there is in Shelby: 2,489 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shelby, 2013 → 2023: 2,411 → 2,489. 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.
How many miles Shelby commutes
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.
Getting around Shelby: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shelby is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #541 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 6.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,312 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). 11.2% of Shelby households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Shelby’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Shelby is 2,532nd of 3,753 U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | North Hills NY | 5,481 | $173K | 3.0% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,530 | Shannondale WV | 3,465 | $80K | 13.3% | 5.6% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,531 | Echols County GA | 3,685 | $59K | 14.2% | 1.7% | 18% | C+ |
| 2,532 | Shelby NY | 4,792 | $66K | 12.5% | 4.2% | 14% | C+ |
| 2,533 | Valdez AK | 3,681 | $99K | 5.8% | 10.1% | — | C+ |
| 2,534 | Guadalupe AZ | 5,093 | $51K | 27.1% | 4.5% | <1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | 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 New York.
Shelby and its neighbors: 17% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Ridgeway. Darker towns draw more of Shelby’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 Shelby: questions
What is the median household income in Shelby?
$65,655 (±$13,826) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shelby?
12.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shelby?
26 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shelby work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ridgeway (14%, 6 mi), Amherst (6%, 22 mi), Albion (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Shelby walkable?
Shelby is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shelby without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% 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.