Photo: Steven Baltakatei Sandoval · CC BY-SA 4.0Stanford’s family incomes are among the highest in the country
Measured by family income, Stanford is among the highest-earning towns in the country. Not counting college students, poverty touches 8.9% of residents (California 11.6%). For jobs and income Stanford is better than 92% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is among the most walkable U.S. towns (A+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Stanford in brief
Stanford has far more jobs than workers
Stanford has 19,075 jobs, 5.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 34,000 people are in town, 82% more than the 19,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Jobs in Stanford have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Stanford went from 2,639 in 2013 to 19,075 in 2023, +623%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Stanford are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 107 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in Stanford is services
99% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 0% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
81% of Stanford’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data, and so do 89% of the jobs based in Stanford. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Stanford: the grade in detail
Family income is its strongest input ($250,001, U.S. $99,999); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
79% of Stanford’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (46% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 8.9%, against 15.9% for all residents. Unemployment (8.1%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($250,001), since student households pull the household median down ($75,208).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Stanford could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
The daily commute in and out of Stanford
On a workday 2,983 residents head out to work, 698 work right here, and 18,377 people come in from elsewhere.
About 34,000 people are in Stanford on a workday afternoon, 82% more than live here.
5.2 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
19,075 jobs are based in Stanford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stanford, 2013 → 2023: 2,639 → 19,075. 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 Stanford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Stanford spends getting to work: about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stanford workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,703 commuters (the 21% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who travels to work in Stanford, and from where
Where Stanford clocks in
5% of workers
4% 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.
The commute from Stanford, by distance
About 23% 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.
Stanford is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stanford is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #1 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Stanford near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,473 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 100% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 43.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 33.3% of Stanford households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Stanford’s commuters take a bus or train.
274th of 1,915: where Stanford ranks among U.S. towns of 13,000 to 25,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 121 | Coto de Caza CA | 15,190 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 272 | Plainsboro Township NJ | 24,349 | $132K | 4.2% | 4.0% | 9% | A |
| 273 | Olmsted Township OH | 14,538 | $96K | 5.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A |
| 274 | Stanford CA | 18,662 | $75K | 15.9% | 8.1% | 19% | A |
| 275 | Cedar Creek Township IN | 14,290 | $112K | 4.0% | 2.5% | 8% | A |
| 276 | Caledonia Township MI | 17,171 | $111K | 3.9% | 3.2% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,915 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Stanford, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to Stanford
The biggest share goes to Palo Alto (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Stanford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford | – | A | A+ | 15 min | $75,208 |
| Palo Alto | 4% | A | A+ | 21 min | $231,101 |
| Menlo Park | 3% | A | A+ | 24 min | $210,025 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Stanford’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.
- Students. 79% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Stanford: questions
What is the median household income in Stanford?
$75,208 (±$20,329) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stanford?
15.9% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 8.9%. California: 12.0%.
How long is the commute from Stanford?
15 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stanford work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (18%, 28 mi), San Jose (5%, 21 mi), Palo Alto (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stanford walkable?
Stanford is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 16.9 out of 20, and 73% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stanford without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 33% of households have no car. 100% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stanford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stanford
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.