At 1.1%, unemployment in St. Stephens is lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 6% of workers, against 16% across North Carolina. The two grades for St. Stephens are B− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 2% work in St. Stephens; the top destination outside it is Hickory (30%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets St. Stephens apart on work
St. Stephens’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Stephens is better than 54% of U.S. towns, #117 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment holds St. Stephens’ grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (16.2%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. Stephens could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
A workday in St. Stephens: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,755 residents head out to work, 71 work right here, and 1,135 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,800 people are in St. Stephens on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.32 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 people from St. Stephens work
Where St. Stephens clocks in
30% of workers
7% of workers
7% 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.
Jobs in St. Stephens: what the 1,206 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Stephens, 2013 → 2023: 1,072 → 1,206. 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 St. Stephens’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from St. Stephens: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Stephens workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,109 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across North Carolina: 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.
How far St. Stephens goes to work
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 trips from St. Stephens start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Stephens is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns, #232 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.9% across North Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,350 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). 5.6% of St. Stephens households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of St. Stephens’ commuters take a bus or train.
St. Stephens next to U.S. towns of 6,600 to 12,800: 1,560th of 2,831 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Oak Ridge NC | 7,896 | $155K | 3.6% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 364 | Summerfield NC | 11,327 | $160K | 7.1% | 2.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 370 | Ogden NC | 8,249 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,558 | Keyport NJ | 7,235 | $82K | 9.1% | 12.8% | 5% | B− |
| 1,559 | Keener Township IN | 11,141 | $74K | 6.8% | 4.0% | 14% | B− |
| 1,560 | St. Stephens NC | 9,457 | $60K | 16.2% | 1.1% | 2% | B− |
| 1,561 | Perry IA | 8,208 | $69K | 8.9% | 3.6% | 23% | B− |
| 1,562 | Vine Grove KY | 7,018 | $73K | 11.1% | 3.5% | 2% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,831 | 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 St. Stephens, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Bordering towns draw 37% of St. Stephens’ workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. Stephens workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Stephens | – | B− | C− | 22 min | $60,394 |
| Hickory | 30% | C+ | B | 21 min | $64,576 |
| Conover | 7% | B− | B− | 19 min | $65,972 |
| Bethlehem | under 2% | B | C | 26 min | $87,795 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Hickory. Darker towns draw more of St. Stephens’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 St. Stephens: questions
What is the median household income in St. Stephens?
$60,394 (±$7,053) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Stephens?
16.2%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Stephens?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Stephens work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hickory (30%, 3 mi), Conover (7%, 5 mi), Charlotte (7%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Stephens walkable?
St. Stephens is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Stephens without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Stephens, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Stephens
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.