Work & commute · Shelby

Work & commute in Shelby, MI

Most working residents leave Shelby for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Hart (12%), Shelby (11%) and Whitehall (9%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

44 of 711 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

15 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 667 Shelby residents head out of town to work, 44 work right here, and 480 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Shelby.

667live here, work elsewhere

44live and work here

480work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Shelby goes to work

Hart5.3 mi away

12%86

Shelby1.8 mi away

11%75

Whitehall14.7 mi away

9%63

Muskegon27.2 mi away

7%53

Hart5.5 mi away

7%52

Grand Rapids57.4 mi away

3%22

Montague13.8 mi away

3%20

Norton Shores31.3 mi away

2%17

Grant7.1 mi away

2%15

Ludington24.2 mi away

1%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%299

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.

34%

22%

16%

28%

34%Under 10 mi

22%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

28%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Shelby is a commuter town

0.74jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.74 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Shelby are

524 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

524 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)37%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month45%

Jobs Shelby residents hold

711 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)41%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)40%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month44%

+10%

Jobs based in Shelby, 2011 → 2021: 477 → 524. 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.