A job hub: Shenandoah has 6.3 jobs per working resident, and 9,168 people come in to work
The two grades for Shenandoah are B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. 9,211 jobs are based in Shenandoah, against 1,469 working residents. Home is the office for 22% of workers (Texas 14%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Shenandoah apart on work
Shenandoah fills up on a workday
Shenandoah has 9,211 jobs, 6.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 12,000 people are in town, 3 times the 3,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Shenandoah workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 40 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas. Over a year that’s about 307 hours of commuting, 100 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Shenandoah has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Shenandoah went from 4,885 in 2013 to 9,211 in 2023, +89%. The jobs ↓
Shenandoah draws workers from far and wide
The 9,211 jobs in Shenandoah are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 31%; the other 69% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Shenandoah and Houston trade workers both ways
Houston is the top workplace for Shenandoah residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Shenandoah come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Shenandoah
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Shenandoah is better than 49% of U.S. towns, #302 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Shenandoah’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($61,833, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Shenandoah could be anywhere from C− to A+.
The daily commute in and out of Shenandoah
On a workday 1,426 residents head out to work and 43 work right here.
About 12,000 people are in Shenandoah on a workday afternoon, 202% more 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.
Commuting from Shenandoah: about 40 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shenandoah workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,127 commuters (the 22% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 83% 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 Shenandoah
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shenandoah, 2013 → 2023: 4,885 → 9,211. 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 Shenandoah’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that send workers to Shenandoah
Where Shenandoah clocks in
33% of workers
16% of workers
8% 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.
Shenandoah’s commute, mile by mile
About 16% 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.
Few in Shenandoah walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shenandoah is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns, #270 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.0% across Texas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,447 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). 7.6% of Shenandoah households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Shenandoah’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Shenandoah ranks: 2,250th of 4,264 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| 4 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,248 | Maiden NC | 3,922 | $76K | 19.7% | 2.6% | 7% | B− |
| 2,249 | Loudonville OH | 2,733 | $56K | 10.4% | 1.4% | 15% | B− |
| 2,250 | Shenandoah TX | 3,833 | $62K | 10.9% | 5.7% | 3% | B− |
| 2,251 | Vermilion Township OH | 4,741 | $73K | 5.9% | 7.9% | 5% | B− |
| 2,252 | Lakeview Estates GA | 3,596 | $47K | 32.1% | 0.4% | <1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | 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 Shenandoah, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Next door is work for 16% of Shenandoah
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Shenandoah workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shenandoah | – | B− | B− | 40 min | $61,833 |
| The Woodlands | 16% | A | B+ | 27 min | $140,701 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to The Woodlands. Darker towns draw more of Shenandoah’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 Shenandoah: questions
What is the median household income in Shenandoah?
$61,833 (±$39,966) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shenandoah?
10.9%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shenandoah?
40 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shenandoah work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (33%, 28 mi), The Woodlands (16%, 3 mi), Conroe (8%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Shenandoah walkable?
Shenandoah is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shenandoah without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shenandoah, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shenandoah
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.