Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0At 1.0%, unemployment in Sheldon is lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
Sheldon grades B+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 8% stay in Sheldon for work; outside it, St. Albans is the main destination (15%, 10 miles). The average commute takes 25 minutes each way, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Sheldon
Sheldon makes and builds things
57% of the jobs based in Sheldon are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Sheldon residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Sheldon than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Sheldon fell from 647 in 2013 to 418 in 2023, −35%. 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 ↓
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 961 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Sheldon
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sheldon is better than 67% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Sheldon’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 17% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sheldon could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
In Sheldon, 57% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
418 jobs are based in Sheldon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sheldon, 2013 → 2023: 647 → 418. 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 Sheldon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Sheldon
On a workday 886 residents head out to work, 75 work right here, and 343 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Sheldon on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
0.43 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 out of Sheldon: the destinations
Where Sheldon clocks in
Lines 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.
From Sheldon, about 25 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sheldon workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,143 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across Vermont: 82% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Sheldon
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.
Most trips from Sheldon start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sheldon is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.2% across Vermont, on an EPA index of 6.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,314 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 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 1.9% of Sheldon households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sheldon’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Sheldon is 1,403rd among 5,641 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 3,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 778 | South Hero VT | 1,726 | $127K | 3.5% | 5.9% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 821 | East Montpelier VT | 2,594 | $93K | 2.1% | 2.6% | 16% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 850 | Dummerston VT | 1,859 | $102K | 4.5% | 1.6% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,401 | Leslie Township MI | 2,308 | $93K | 7.3% | 4.4% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,402 | Florence Township OH | 2,362 | $111K | 7.8% | 4.7% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,403 | Sheldon VT | 2,192 | $79K | 5.1% | 1.0% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,404 | Haubstadt IN | 1,610 | $75K | 4.9% | 0.9% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,405 | Richland Grove Township IL | 2,266 | $107K | 11.6% | 2.6% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,641 | 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 Sheldon, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
12% of Sheldon works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Swanton (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Sheldon’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 Sheldon: questions
What is the median household income in Sheldon?
$78,533 (±$24,942) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sheldon?
5.1%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sheldon?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sheldon work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Albans (15%, 10 mi), St. Albans (12%, 12 mi), Swanton (9%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sheldon walkable?
Sheldon is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sheldon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sheldon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sheldon
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.