Photo: Generic1139 · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Shirley Township trail those of 88% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers, where Pennsylvania as a whole has 16%. 12.3% of residents are in poverty (Pennsylvania 11.7%). Jobs and income earn Shirley Township C−; getting around on foot earns it C−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Shirley Township apart on work
Shirley Township makes and builds things
64% of the jobs based in Shirley Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Shirley Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 29%. The jobs ↓
Shirley Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 41 minutes each way, against 26 across Pennsylvania. Over a year that’s about 314 hours of commuting, 115 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 915 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Shirley Township’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Shirley Township is better than 18% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Shirley Township’s grade up (4.4%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 10% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Shirley Township could be anywhere from D− to B−.
64% of the jobs in Shirley Township make or build things
826 jobs are based in Shirley Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shirley Township, 2013 → 2023: 190 → 826. 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 Shirley Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 41 minutes from Shirley Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shirley Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 931 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Pennsylvania: 81% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The daily commute in and out of Shirley Township
On a workday 782 residents head out to work, 133 work right here, and 693 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 (0.90 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.
Out of Shirley Township to work: where people go
Where Shirley Township clocks in
7% 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.
Half of Shirley Township commutes less than 24 miles
About 23% 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.
The commute in Shirley Township is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shirley Township is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 8.6% across Pennsylvania, on an EPA index of 4.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,005 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). 8.7% of Shirley Township households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Shirley Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,200, Shirley Township ranks 3,923rd of 4,995 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Newtown PA | 2,257 | $166K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Churchill PA | 3,014 | $107K | 1.9% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Thornbury Township PA | 3,165 | $172K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,921 | Bradley Township IL | 1,883 | $71K | 16.7% | 2.3% | 11% | C− |
| 3,922 | Tobacco Township MI | 2,519 | $64K | 8.7% | 8.5% | 1% | C− |
| 3,923 | Shirley Township PA | 2,374 | $50K | 12.3% | 4.4% | 15% | C− |
| 3,924 | Aberdeen ID | 1,852 | $83K | 14.2% | 8.0% | 14% | C− |
| 3,925 | St. Maries ID | 2,457 | $60K | 12.7% | 5.0% | 38% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,995 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Shirley Township, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
The towns next door employ 13% of Shirley Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Shirley Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shirley Township | – | C− | C− | 41 min | $49,750 |
| Cromwell Township | 4% | D | C− | 31 min | $52,054 |
| Wayne Township | 2% | B− | C− | 33 min | $69,250 |
| Tell Township | under 2% | — | — | 40 min | — |
| Mount Union | 7% | D− | A− | 30 min | $40,625 |
| Union Township | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Brady Township | under 2% | C+ | B− | 25 min | $73,393 |
| Cass Township | under 2% | C+ | D | 47 min | $78,750 |
| Lack Township | under 2% | — | — | 45 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Tell Township, Union Township and Lack Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Mount Union. Darker towns draw more of Shirley Township’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 Shirley Township: questions
What is the median household income in Shirley Township?
$49,750 (±$13,167) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shirley Township?
12.3%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shirley Township?
41 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shirley Township work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mount Union (7%, 4 mi), Huntingdon (5%, 14 mi), Ayr Township (4%, 34 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Shirley Township walkable?
Shirley Township is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shirley Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shirley Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shirley Township
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.