Work & commute · Shell Lake

Work & commute in Shell Lake, WI

Most working residents leave Shell Lake for work: only 14% work in town. The top destinations are Spooner (20%), Rice Lake (5%) and Eau Claire (3%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

14%

72 of 523 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 451 Shell Lake residents head out of town to work, 72 work right here, and 668 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Shell Lake.

451live here, work elsewhere

72live and work here

668work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Shell Lake goes to work

Spooner7 mi away

20%105

Shell Lake (in town)right here

14%72

Rice Lake18.5 mi away

5%28

Eau Claire65.9 mi away

3%18

Beaver Brook4.5 mi away

3%18

Cumberland14.3 mi away

3%15

Superior67.3 mi away

2%9

Barron22.6 mi away

2%8

Webster24.2 mi away

1%7

Turtle Lake25.9 mi away

1%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%236

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

How far

How far Shell Lake commutes

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

41%

21%

30%

41%Under 10 mi

21%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Shell Lake is balanced between jobs and homes

1.41jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.41 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Shell Lake are

740 jobs are based in Shell Lake. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Shell Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Shell Lake

740 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)85%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Shell Lake residents hold

523 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month57%

−3%

Jobs based in Shell Lake, 2013 → 2023: 761 → 740. 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 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.