Photo: User:Sfline · CC BY-SA 4.0Stanley has higher unemployment (5.8%) than 72% of U.S. towns
The trip to work takes 26 minutes on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. Jobs and income earn Stanley B; getting around on foot earns it C−. Only 3% stay in Stanley for work; outside it, Charlotte is the main destination (34%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Stanley, in a few figures
Inside Stanley’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Stanley is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #109 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Stanley’s grade up (ahead of 79% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Stanley could be anywhere from C to A.
Commuting out of Stanley: the destinations
Where Stanley clocks in
34% of workers
12% 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.
In and out of Stanley on a workday
On a workday 2,236 residents head out to work, 71 work right here, and 1,325 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Stanley on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
The kinds of work in Stanley
1,396 jobs are based in Stanley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stanley, 2013 → 2023: 1,090 → 1,396. 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 Stanley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Stanley: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stanley workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,770 commuters (the 11% 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.
Where in the region Stanley works
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 Stanley, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stanley is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns, #250 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 1,991 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). 2.3% of Stanley households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Stanley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Stanley is 1,764th of 3,962 U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,700 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 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 187 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 282 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,762 | Ossian IN | 3,448 | $72K | 6.7% | 4.8% | 9% | B |
| 1,763 | Strafford NH | 4,338 | $122K | 8.0% | 4.0% | 7% | B |
| 1,764 | Stanley NC | 4,237 | $75K | 8.1% | 5.8% | 3% | B |
| 1,765 | Bowling Township IL | 3,366 | $101K | 5.8% | 12.9% | 1% | B |
| 1,766 | Avon NY | 3,434 | $72K | 8.1% | 4.6% | 14% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,962 | 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 Stanley, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
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 Stanley: questions
What is the median household income in Stanley?
$75,461 (±$19,862) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stanley?
8.1%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stanley?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stanley work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (34%, 18 mi), Gastonia (12%, 9 mi), Mount Holly (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stanley walkable?
Stanley is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stanley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stanley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stanley
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.