Mill Creek Friends Meetinghouse · Photo: Historic American Buildings Survey Earl Brooks, Photographer · Public domainNorth Star has higher household incomes than 95% of U.S. towns
Only 4% work in North Star; the top destination outside it is Wilmington (13%, 11 miles). 3.5% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.4% across Delaware. Jobs and income earn North Star A; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: North Star in brief
North Star has added jobs fast
Jobs based in North Star went from 401 in 2013 to 759 in 2023, +89%. The jobs ↓
Most North Star residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 6% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
North Star is a place people come home to
There are 759 jobs based in North Star, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday North Star has about 5,100 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside North Star
75% of North Star residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 55% of the jobs based in North Star pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. 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.
The figures behind North Star’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, North Star is better than 94% of U.S. towns, #3 of 37 in Delaware. Household income is its strongest input ($150,733, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, North Star could be anywhere from A− to A+.
North Star is a services town
759 jobs are based in North Star.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in North Star, 2013 → 2023: 401 → 759. 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 North Star’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from North Star
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.
In and out of North Star on a workday
On a workday 3,334 residents head out to work, 137 work right here, and 622 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,100 people are in North Star on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
0.22 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.
Where the trip to work from North Star ends
Where North Star clocks in
13% 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.
Commuting from North Star: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of North Star workers work from home, vs 15% across Delaware. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,928 commuters (the 21% who work from home are left out). Across Delaware: 84% 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.
For most of North Star, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, North Star is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #31 of 37 in Delaware. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.9% across Delaware, on an EPA index of 5.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,686 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). 4.6% of North Star households have no vehicle (Delaware 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of North Star’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,026 U.S. towns of 5,500 to 10,600, North Star comes 284th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Pike Creek DE | 7,129 | $140K | 1.3% | 0.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 282 | Groveland Township MI | 6,274 | $106K | 4.2% | 1.6% | 4% | A |
| 283 | Little Suamico WI | 5,794 | $112K | 4.2% | 0.5% | 2% | A |
| 284 | North Star DE | 7,834 | $151K | 3.5% | 3.1% | 4% | A |
| 285 | Sunset Hills MO | 9,075 | $138K | 3.7% | 4.1% | 5% | A |
| 286 | Camp Hill PA | 8,199 | $116K | 6.6% | 2.0% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 306 | New Castle DE | 5,726 | $89K | 4.7% | 1.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,101 | Wilmington Manor DE | 8,214 | $78K | 11.6% | 2.7% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,026 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 North Star, the top three, the last and three more from Delaware.
Next door to North Star
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | North Star workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Star | – | A | B | 24 min | $150,733 |
| Hockessin | 4% | A+ | A | 23 min | $171,204 |
| Pike Creek | under 1% | A+ | B− | 29 min | $139,635 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Hockessin. Darker towns draw more of North Star’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 North Star: questions
What is the median household income in North Star?
$150,733 (±$41,168) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $84,954 across Delaware and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in North Star?
3.5%, against 10.4% across Delaware and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from North Star?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Delaware and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in North Star work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilmington (13%, 11 mi), Newark (4%, 5 mi), Hockessin (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is North Star walkable?
North Star is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around North Star without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from North Star, from the people who make the trip.
More of North Star
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.