Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Sterling works elsewhere
316 jobs are based in Sterling for 1,475 working residents. Sterling grades B− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Measured by household income, Sterling is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Sterling stands out on work
Sterling workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 27 across Connecticut. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Sterling is a place people come home to
There are 316 jobs based in Sterling, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Sterling has about 2,600 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
The figures behind Sterling’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sterling is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #135 of 155 in Connecticut. Household income holds Sterling’s grade up ($102,695, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sterling could be anywhere from C to A−.
About 35 minutes to work from Sterling
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sterling workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,649 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Connecticut: 82% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How a workday changes Sterling
On a workday 1,387 residents head out to work, 88 work right here, and 228 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Sterling on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
9% of working residents work in Killingly
Where Sterling clocks in
9% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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.
A place that makes things: 33% of Sterling’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sterling, 2013 → 2023: 407 → 316. 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 Sterling’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Sterling, by distance
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.
Most of Sterling commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sterling is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns, #140 of 155 in Connecticut. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across Connecticut, on an EPA index of 3.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,865 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 under 0.1 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). 0.0% of Sterling households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sterling’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sterling is 2,291st of 4,318 U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Andover CT | 3,173 | $135K | 1.8% | 0.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 232 | Bolton CT | 4,875 | $126K | 7.2% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 578 | Salem CT | 4,324 | $123K | 6.2% | 3.2% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,289 | Whitehall MI | 3,205 | $61K | 16.3% | 0.2% | 18% | B− |
| 2,290 | Dallastown PA | 4,198 | $64K | 7.3% | 6.0% | 2% | B− |
| 2,291 | Sterling CT | 3,736 | $103K | 8.3% | 6.9% | 6% | B− |
| 2,292 | French Lick Township IN | 4,746 | $61K | 7.8% | 1.9% | 35% | B− |
| 2,293 | Montgomery Township OH | 4,222 | $76K | 10.0% | 4.7% | 7% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | 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 Sterling, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
10% of Sterling works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Plainfield (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sterling workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling | – | B− | C− | 35 min | $102,695 |
| Plainfield | 8% | B− | C+ | 27 min | $76,993 |
| Voluntown | under 2% | B− | D | 31 min | $101,964 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sterling’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 Sterling: questions
What is the median household income in Sterling?
$102,695 (±$11,817) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sterling?
8.3%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sterling?
35 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sterling work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Killingly (9%, 9 mi), Plainfield (8%, 4 mi), Norwich (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sterling walkable?
Sterling is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 3.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sterling without a car?
0% 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 Sterling, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sterling
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.