Photo: Burnsidegen · CC BY-SA 3.0Stem has 0.0 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income A−: better than 81% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability D−: more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns.
Household incomes here are higher than in 73% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 31 minutes each way (North Carolina 25, U.S. 26). Only 0% work in Stem; the top destination outside it is Durham (25%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Stem
Stem is a place people come home to
There are 15 jobs based in Stem, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Stem has about 570 people in it, 44% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Stem workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 46 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; with 470 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Stem’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Stem is better than 81% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Stem’s grade up (3.0%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 46% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.1%) is left out: Stem’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Stem could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Stem quiets down on a workday
On a workday 470 residents head out to work, 0 work right here, and 15 people come in from elsewhere.
About 570 people are in Stem on a workday afternoon, 44% fewer than live here.
0.03 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.
About 31 minutes each way, longer than most of North Carolina
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stem workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 517 commuters (the 18% 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.
25% of working residents work in Durham
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Stem clocks in
25% of workers
14% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 15 jobs in Stem are
15 jobs are based in Stem. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Stem’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Half of Stem commutes less than 20 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
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.
Most trips from Stem start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stem is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Stem 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 633 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). 0.0% of Stem households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Stem’s commuters take a bus or train.
Stem is 263rd of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Stem, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 158 | Montreat NC | 1,024 | $116K | 0.0% | 9.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 261 | Sylvester WI | 1,007 | $111K | 2.5% | 3.3% | <1% | A− |
| 262 | Kaanapali HI | 1,170 | $129K | 4.5% | 17.6% | 27% | A− |
| 263 | Stem NC | 1,023 | $96K | 3.0% | 1.1% | 0% | A− |
| 264 | Surf City NJ | 1,305 | $119K | 4.5% | 5.3% | 4% | A− |
| 265 | Deer Creek Township IL | 1,392 | $108K | 6.5% | 0.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 302 | Brandywine Bay NC | 1,313 | $105K | 1.2% | 12.1% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 313 | Blowing Rock NC | 1,324 | $121K | 2.4% | 0.4% | 15% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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.
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 Stem: questions
What is the median household income in Stem?
$95,625 (±$17,192) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stem?
3.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stem?
31 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stem work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Durham (25%, 18 mi), Raleigh (14%, 26 mi), Butner (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stem walkable?
Stem is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stem without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stem, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stem
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.