Oehler Mill Complex · Photo: Jeff the quiet · CC0At 1.3%, unemployment in Shelby is lower than in 92% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute lasts 20 minutes (Wisconsin 22, U.S. 26). The two grades for Shelby are A for jobs and income and B for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Shelby and work: the main findings
More than half of Shelby works in La Crosse
1,210 working residents, 57%, have their main job in La Crosse, 4.4 miles away across the town line. That’s 29 times as many as work in Shelby itself. The commute map ↓
Most Shelby residents work close to home
71% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Shelby empties out on a workday
About 3,300 people are in Shelby on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than the 4,700 who live here: 2,100 head out to work and 680 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
The four measures behind Shelby’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Shelby is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #120 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Shelby could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
57% of working residents work in La Crosse
Where Shelby clocks in
57% of workers
2% 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.
How far Shelby goes to work
About 18% 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.
How a workday changes Shelby
On a workday 2,088 residents head out to work, 34 work right here, and 678 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Shelby on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.
0.34 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.
What the 712 jobs in Shelby are
712 jobs are based in Shelby.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shelby, 2013 → 2023: 912 → 712. 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.
About 20 minutes to work from Shelby
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shelby workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,021 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 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.
For most of Shelby, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shelby is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns, #127 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.8% across Wisconsin.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,304 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 32% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 13% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 65% 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). 2.1% of Shelby households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Shelby’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Shelby ranks: 479th of 3,798 U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,300
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Ottawa WI | 3,642 | $153K | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Jackson WI | 3,950 | $117K | 0.6% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Bristol WI | 4,347 | $141K | 1.2% | 0.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 477 | Boonsboro MD | 3,867 | $96K | 3.3% | 2.6% | 3% | A |
| 478 | Fond du Lac WI | 3,780 | $106K | 4.7% | 2.6% | 1% | A |
| 479 | Shelby WI | 4,668 | $110K | 6.4% | 1.3% | 2% | A |
| 480 | Three Lakes WA | 4,055 | $173K | 6.3% | 1.5% | 1% | A |
| 481 | Larkin Township MI | 5,390 | $143K | 2.7% | 2.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,798 | 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 Wisconsin.
Next door is work for 57% of Shelby
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Shelby workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby | – | A | B | 20 min | $110,341 |
| La Crosse | 57% | C+ | A+ | 16 min | $55,866 |
| Bergen | under 2% | C+ | C | 24 min | $77,250 |
| Greenfield | under 2% | A− | C− | 27 min | $105,417 |
| Hamburg | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Medary | under 2% | A | C+ | 22 min | $105,114 |
Same-state neighbors only. Hamburg: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to La Crosse. 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?
$110,341 (±$19,736) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shelby?
6.4%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shelby?
20 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shelby work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are La Crosse (57%, 4 mi), Onalaska (9%, 8 mi), West Salem (2%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Shelby walkable?
Shelby is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shelby without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 13% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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.