Sterling Ranch’s household incomes are among the highest in the country
Jobs & income A−: better than 82% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #52 of 159 in Colorado.
Walkability D: more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns · #157 of 159 in Colorado.
Working residents average 29 minutes each way (Colorado 25, U.S. 26). Only 2% work in Sterling Ranch; the top destination outside it is Denver (27%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Sterling Ranch, in brief
A lot of Sterling Ranch works from home
40% of Sterling Ranch workers work from home, against 21% across Colorado. Time on the road ↓
Sterling Ranch is a place people come home to
There are 169 jobs based in Sterling Ranch, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Sterling Ranch has about 2,700 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Four in five Sterling Ranch workers earn over $40,000 a year
80% of Sterling Ranch’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.
What’s behind Sterling Ranch’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sterling Ranch is better than 82% of U.S. towns, #52 of 159 in Colorado. Household income holds Sterling Ranch’s grade up ($206,719, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 43% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sterling Ranch could be anywhere from B+ to A.
About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Colorado
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sterling Ranch workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,428 commuters (the 40% who work from home are left out). Across Colorado: 82% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Sterling Ranch quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,648 residents head out to work, 30 work right here, and 139 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Sterling Ranch on a workday afternoon, 36% fewer than live here.
0.10 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.
76% of the jobs in Sterling Ranch pay over $3,333 a month
169 jobs are based in Sterling Ranch. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sterling Ranch’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sterling Ranch, 2013 → 2023: 13 → 169. 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.
27% of working residents work in Denver
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Sterling Ranch clocks in
27% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Sterling Ranch commutes less than 13 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Most trips from Sterling Ranch start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sterling Ranch is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns, #157 of 159 in Colorado. Both inputs place Sterling Ranch 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 2,396 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 0.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 1.1% of Sterling Ranch households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sterling Ranch’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sterling Ranch is 721st of 4,195 U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,700 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Sterling Ranch, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Stepping Stone CO | 3,137 | $224K | 0.0% | 2.5% | <1% | A+ |
| 45 | Todd Creek CO | 5,379 | $194K | 0.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Sierra Ridge CO | 3,663 | $158K | 0.1% | 2.4% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 719 | Plymouth WI | 3,038 | $76K | 3.7% | 1.1% | 3% | A− |
| 720 | El Jebel CO | 2,941 | $103K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 4% | A− |
| 721 | Sterling Ranch CO | 4,213 | $207K | 2.0% | 4.2% | 2% | A− |
| 722 | Dulles Town Center VA | 5,464 | $126K | 4.6% | 6.3% | 6% | A− |
| 723 | Howards Grove WI | 3,190 | $78K | 4.4% | 1.5% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,195 | 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.
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 Sterling Ranch: questions
What is the median household income in Sterling Ranch?
$206,719 (±$20,102) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sterling Ranch?
2.0%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sterling Ranch?
29 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 40% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sterling Ranch work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (27%, 21 mi), Lakewood (7%, 15 mi), Aurora (6%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sterling Ranch walkable?
Sterling Ranch is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sterling Ranch without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sterling Ranch, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sterling Ranch
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.