Photo: Stow photographer · CC BY-SA 3.0Stow has higher household incomes than 72% of U.S. towns
Stow grades A− for jobs and income and B for walkability. The poverty rate is 5.2%; Ohio has 13.3%. About one in ten work in Stow itself; outside it, Akron draws the most (16%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Stow apart
The figures behind Stow’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Stow is better than 83% of U.S. towns, #224 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Stow could be anywhere from B+ to A.
The places Stow commutes to
Where Stow clocks in
16% 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.
In and out of Stow on a workday
On a workday 14,360 residents head out to work, 1,437 work right here, and 10,390 people come in from elsewhere.
About 30,000 people are in Stow on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.75 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.
Inside Stow’s 11,827 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stow, 2013 → 2023: 10,972 → 11,827. 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 Stow’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Stow: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stow workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,777 commuters (the 17% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 86% 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 Stow’s workers travel
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.
Stow is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stow is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #349 of 993 in Ohio. Both inputs place Stow 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 17,875 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). 4.1% of Stow households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Stow’s commuters take a bus or train.
399th of 1,255: where Stow ranks among U.S. towns of 24,000 to 46,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Genoa Township OH | 27,720 | $177K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 397 | Paramus NJ | 26,723 | $144K | 4.7% | 7.7% | 12% | A− |
| 398 | Bridgewater Town MA | 29,309 | $113K | 4.8% | 4.7% | 7% | A− |
| 399 | Stow OH | 33,941 | $94K | 5.2% | 3.9% | 9% | A− |
| 400 | Washington Township IL | 24,235 | $90K | 6.4% | 2.3% | 13% | A− |
| 401 | The Acreage FL | 40,843 | $109K | 4.6% | 3.7% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,255 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Stow, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
The towns next door employ 19% of Stow
The biggest share goes to Cuyahoga Falls (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Stow workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stow | – | A− | B | 24 min | $93,727 |
| Cuyahoga Falls | 7% | B+ | B− | 22 min | $72,705 |
| Silver Lake | under 2% | A+ | C | 26 min | $139,934 |
| Tallmadge | 2% | A− | C+ | 25 min | $89,410 |
| Kent | 4% | B | A | 21 min | $42,964 |
| Munroe Falls | under 2% | B+ | B+ | 23 min | $81,214 |
| Franklin Township | under 2% | B+ | A− | 19 min | $64,034 |
| Hudson | 6% | A+ | B− | 27 min | $171,427 |
| Brimfield Township | under 2% | A− | B− | 26 min | $91,132 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Stow’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 Stow: questions
What is the median household income in Stow?
$93,727 (±$6,144) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stow?
5.2%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stow?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stow work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Akron (16%, 8 mi), Cuyahoga Falls (7%, 6 mi), Hudson (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stow walkable?
Stow is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stow without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stow, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stow
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.