Household incomes in Stepping Stone are among the highest of any U.S. town
Measured by household income, Stepping Stone is among the highest-earning towns in the country. Stepping Stone grades A+ for jobs and income and C for walkability. 46% of workers have no commute at all; Colorado has 21%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Stepping Stone
A lot of Stepping Stone works from home
46% of Stepping Stone workers work from home, against 21% across Colorado. Time on the road ↓
Stepping Stone is a place people come home to
There are 127 jobs based in Stepping Stone, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Stepping Stone has about 1,800 people in it, 43% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Four in five Stepping Stone workers earn over $40,000 a year
81% of Stepping Stone’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. 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.
Why Stepping Stone gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Stepping Stone is among the top U.S. towns, #1 of 159 in Colorado. The poverty rate is its strongest input (hardly any, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (2.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Stepping Stone could be anywhere from A to A+.
About 26 minutes to work from Stepping Stone
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stepping Stone workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 985 commuters (the 46% who work from home are left out). Across Colorado: 82% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
A workday in Stepping Stone: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,461 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 120 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Stepping Stone on a workday afternoon, 43% fewer than live here.
0.09 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
127 jobs are based in Stepping Stone.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stepping Stone, 2013 → 2023: 3 → 127. 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 Stepping Stone’s own residents hold wherever they work.
26% of working residents work in Denver
Where Stepping Stone clocks in
26% of workers
9% of workers
8% 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 Stepping Stone goes to work
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.
For most of Stepping Stone, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stepping Stone is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns, #142 of 159 in Colorado. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 6.4% across Colorado.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,835 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 88% 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). 0.0% of Stepping Stone households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Stepping Stone’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Stepping Stone ranks: 31st of 4,562 U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Empire MN | 3,063 | $148K | 1.9% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| 30 | Harding Township NJ | 3,949 | $222K | 3.3% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| 31 | Stepping Stone CO | 3,137 | $224K | 0.0% | 2.5% | <1% | A+ |
| 32 | Naval Academy MD | 3,006 | $122K | 1.5% | 4.4% | 0% | A+ |
| 33 | Haworth NJ | 3,422 | $237K | 3.7% | 2.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Sierra Ridge CO | 3,663 | $158K | 0.1% | 2.4% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Genesee CO | 3,778 | $187K | 2.4% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 77 | Holly Hills CO | 2,572 | $122K | 6.1% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,562 | 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 Stepping Stone, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
Work in the towns next to Stepping Stone
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Stepping Stone workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stepping Stone | – | A+ | C | 26 min | $223,839 |
| Parker | under 3% | A | B+ | 26 min | $133,369 |
| Meridian Village | under 3% | A+ | C− | 22 min | $190,833 |
| Sierra Ridge | under 3% | A+ | C− | 40 min | $158,183 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Stepping Stone’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 Stepping Stone: questions
What is the median household income in Stepping Stone?
$223,839 (±$46,744) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stepping Stone?
0.0%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stepping Stone?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 46% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stepping Stone work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (26%, 17 mi), Centennial (9%, 6 mi), Greenwood Village (8%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stepping Stone walkable?
Stepping Stone is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stepping Stone without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stepping Stone, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stepping Stone
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.