Sawyer Homestead · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Sterling’s household incomes are higher than in 91% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 6.0% of residents, where Massachusetts as a whole has 10.0%. For jobs and income Sterling is better than 83% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (B+). Only 8% stay in Sterling for work; outside it, Worcester is the main destination (15%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Sterling
Sterling and Worcester trade workers both ways
Worcester is the top workplace for Sterling residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Sterling come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Sterling makes and builds things
40% of the jobs based in Sterling are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Sterling residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 19%. The jobs ↓
Sterling workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. 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.
How Sterling earns its Jobs & income grade
Household income is its strongest input ($129,063, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.0%, 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, Sterling could be anywhere from B to A+.
Out of Sterling to work: where people go
Where Sterling clocks in
15% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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: 40% of Sterling’s jobs are in goods
2,405 jobs are based in Sterling.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sterling, 2013 → 2023: 2,213 → 2,405. 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 trip to work from Sterling: about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sterling workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,450 commuters (the 18% who work from home are left out). Across Massachusetts: 75% drive alone, 8% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Sterling on a workday afternoon
On a workday 3,574 residents head out to work, 297 work right here, and 2,108 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,900 people are in Sterling on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.62 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.
Half of Sterling commutes less than 14 miles
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 Sterling, work means a drive
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 6.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,224 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 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 41% 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). 2.7% of Sterling households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Sterling’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sterling next to U.S. towns of 5,900 to 11,300: 691st of 2,947 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Georgetown MA | 8,577 | $152K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 8% | A+ |
| 88 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 689 | Lower Nazareth Township PA | 7,187 | $126K | 2.2% | 6.1% | 5% | A− |
| 690 | Bardmoor FL | 10,292 | $89K | 8.6% | 2.5% | 2% | A− |
| 691 | Sterling MA | 8,358 | $129K | 6.0% | 4.0% | 8% | A− |
| 692 | Cedarhurst NY | 7,334 | $102K | 6.4% | 4.8% | 9% | A− |
| 693 | Looking Glass Township IL | 6,427 | $92K | 7.3% | 1.6% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,947 | 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 Sterling, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door to Sterling
The biggest share goes to West Boylston (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sterling workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling | – | A− | B+ | 34 min | $129,063 |
| Princeton | under 2% | A+ | B− | 37 min | $158,750 |
| West Boylston | 2% | A− | B | 25 min | $104,551 |
| Clinton | 2% | B | B | 30 min | $89,781 |
| Lancaster | under 2% | A− | B | 32 min | $134,833 |
| Holden | 2% | A− | C− | 27 min | $141,923 |
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?
$129,063 (±$26,765) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sterling?
6.0%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sterling?
34 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sterling work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Worcester (15%, 12 mi), Boston (7%, 40 mi), Leominster (6%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sterling walkable?
Sterling is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sterling without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 3% 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.