Photo: Nyttend · Public domainStanton ranks among the lowest-earning U.S. towns by household income
Poverty touches 26.0% of residents; Kentucky has 16.1%. Measured by household income, Stanton is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. Jobs and income earn Stanton D; getting around on foot earns it B+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Stanton and work: the main findings
Stanton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Stanton is Lexington, 35 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (207) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Stanton workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 10% across Kentucky. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Stanton’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Stanton is better than 7% of U.S. towns, #128 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Stanton’s grade up (ahead of 40% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($25,417, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Stanton could be anywhere from D− to C.
Stanton’s commute, mile by mile
About 20% 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.
How long Stanton spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stanton workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,096 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who leaves Stanton for work, and who comes in
On a workday 952 residents head out to work, 242 work right here, and 1,288 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,500 people are in Stanton on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
17% of working residents work in Lexington
Where Stanton clocks in
10% of workers
3% 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.
Inside Stanton’s 1,530 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stanton, 2013 → 2023: 1,438 → 1,530. 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 Stanton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Few in Stanton walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stanton is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #45 of 142 in Kentucky. Both inputs place Stanton 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 1,146 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 13.4% of Stanton households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Stanton’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300, and where Stanton sits
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 14 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Buckner KY | 4,119 | $164K | 0.1% | 2.1% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,344 | Corinna ME | 2,261 | $57K | 17.7% | 6.1% | 7% | D |
| 4,345 | Centre AL | 3,912 | $45K | 21.1% | 7.3% | 23% | D |
| 4,346 | Stanton KY | 3,153 | $25K | 26.0% | 7.1% | 20% | D |
| 4,347 | Delhi LA | 2,519 | $52K | 25.1% | 8.2% | 33% | D |
| 4,348 | Mansfield PA | 2,937 | $48K | 25.1% | 6.1% | 17% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | 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 Stanton, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
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 Stanton: questions
What is the median household income in Stanton?
$25,417 (±$6,973) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stanton?
26.0%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stanton?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stanton work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lexington (17%, 35 mi), Winchester (10%, 21 mi), Mount Sterling (3%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stanton walkable?
Stanton is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stanton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stanton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stanton
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.