Photo: User:OHWiki · Public domainShelby’s household incomes are lower than in 77% of U.S. towns
About one in five stay in Shelby for work; outside it, Mansfield is the main destination (18%, 10 miles). Below the poverty line: 13.2% of residents, next to 13.3% for Ohio as a whole. Shelby grades C for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Shelby
Shelby trades workers with the towns around it
Shelby has about as many jobs (3,276) as working residents (3,822), but they are mostly different people: 3,111 residents leave for work each day while 2,565 people come in. Only 22% of the jobs in Shelby are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Shelby than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Shelby fell from 5,462 in 2013 to 3,276 in 2023, −40%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Shelby makes and builds things
43% of the jobs based in Shelby are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Shelby residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 30%. The jobs ↓
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 Shelby: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Shelby is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #795 of 992 in Ohio. Unemployment holds Shelby’s grade up (4.2%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($58,351, 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.
Who commutes out of Shelby, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,111 residents head out to work, 711 work right here, and 2,565 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 (0.86 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.
A place that makes things: 43% of Shelby’s jobs are in goods
3,276 jobs are based in Shelby.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shelby, 2013 → 2023: 5,462 → 3,276. 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.
Commuting out of Shelby: the destinations
Where Shelby clocks in
18% of workers
6% 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.
About 24 minutes each way, about the OH average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shelby workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,644 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 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.
Miles to work from Shelby
About 26% 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.
In Shelby, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shelby is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns, #612 of 993 in Ohio. 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 3,953 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). 4.2% of Shelby households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Shelby’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Shelby ranks: 2,129th of 2,841 U.S. towns of 6,500 to 12,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Jerome Township OH | 11,237 | $176K | 0.4% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Madeira OH | 9,637 | $168K | 2.5% | 1.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,127 | Folcroft PA | 6,780 | $61K | 16.2% | 10.3% | 4% | C |
| 2,128 | Rice Lake WI | 8,882 | $52K | 12.9% | 3.2% | 41% | C |
| 2,129 | Shelby OH | 9,231 | $58K | 13.2% | 4.2% | 19% | C |
| 2,130 | Swissvale PA | 8,197 | $60K | 17.0% | 8.0% | 3% | C |
| 2,131 | St. Clair Township OH | 7,520 | $58K | 11.4% | 5.1% | 11% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,841 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Ohio.
Shelby and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Shelby workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby | – | C | C | 24 min | $58,351 |
| Sharon Township | under 2% | C | C | 23 min | $60,684 |
| Plymouth Township | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Jackson Township | under 2% | B | D | 22 min | $72,986 |
Same-state neighbors only. Plymouth Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$58,351 (±$5,799) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shelby?
13.2%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shelby?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shelby work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mansfield (18%, 10 mi), Columbus (6%, 64 mi), Ontario (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Shelby walkable?
Shelby is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shelby without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% 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.