Work & commute · Shelby

Work & commute in Shelby, MI

Most working residents leave Shelby for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Troy (10%), Sterling Heights (8%) and Warren (8%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2,846 of 32,577 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 29,731 Shelby residents head out of town to work, 2,846 work right here, and 23,200 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Shelby.

29,731live here, work elsewhere

2,846live and work here

23,200work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Shelby goes to work

Troy8.3 mi away

10%3,174

Shelby (in town)right here

9%2,846

Sterling Heights6.4 mi away

8%2,764

Warren12.5 mi away

8%2,581

Auburn Hills10.5 mi away

5%1,791

Detroit20.3 mi away

5%1,707

Clinton8.3 mi away

4%1,439

Rochester Hills6.3 mi away

4%1,284

Southfield17.8 mi away

3%914

Pontiac12.8 mi away

2%774

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%13,303

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Shelby commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

43%

41%

10%

43%Under 10 mi

41%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

6%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Shelby is balanced between jobs and homes

0.80jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.80 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Shelby are

26,046 jobs are based in Shelby. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Shelby’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Shelby

26,046 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities28%

Services (health, schools, offices…)43%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month44%

Jobs Shelby residents hold

32,577 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+18%

Jobs based in Shelby, 2011 → 2021: 22,013 → 26,046. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2021. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.