Photo: M.O. Stevens · Public domainStafford’s household incomes are higher than in 96% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income A: better than 93% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability C−: more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns.
Working residents average 33 minutes each way (Oregon 23, U.S. 26). Only 1% work in Stafford; the top destination outside it is Portland (29%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Stafford, in brief
Stafford and Portland trade workers both ways
Portland is the top workplace for Stafford residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in Stafford come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Stafford’s working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 33 minutes, longer than the Oregon average of 23. 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 761 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Stafford’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Stafford is better than 93% of U.S. towns. Household income is its strongest input ($163,155, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (6.9%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (5.0%) is left out: Stafford’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, Stafford could be anywhere from A− to A+.
29% of working residents work in Portland
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Stafford clocks in
7% of workers
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 33 minutes each way, longer than most of Oregon
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stafford workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 490 commuters (the 25% who work from home are left out). Across Oregon: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 751 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 727 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.97 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What the 737 jobs in Stafford are
737 jobs are based in Stafford. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Stafford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stafford, 2013 → 2023: 713 → 737. 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.
Half of Stafford commutes less than 9 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Most trips from Stafford start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stafford is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.4% across Oregon.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 650 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 8% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 4% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 1.7% of Stafford households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Stafford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Stafford is 241st of 6,161 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,200 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Stafford, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Dunthorpe OR | 1,875 | $250K | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 206 | Boring OR | 1,869 | $159K | 3.8% | 6.0% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 239 | Vinland WI | 1,739 | $91K | 2.5% | 1.2% | 2% | A |
| 240 | Upper Brookville NY | 1,778 | $250K | 0.9% | 5.8% | 1% | A |
| 241 | Stafford OR | 1,600 | $163K | 6.9% | 5.0% | 1% | A |
| 242 | Hidden Hills CA | 1,675 | $250K | 9.5% | 2.5% | <1% | A |
| 243 | Lavallette NJ | 1,869 | $133K | 4.3% | 2.6% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 252 | Coburg OR | 1,373 | $98K | 1.5% | 8.9% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 6,161 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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.
17% of Stafford works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Lake Oswego (7%). Darker towns draw more of Stafford’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Stafford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stafford | – | A | C− | 33 min | $163,155 |
| Lake Oswego | 7% | A | A | 22 min | $141,549 |
| West Linn | 4% | A | A− | 24 min | $146,507 |
| Tualatin | 6% | B+ | A | 21 min | $104,043 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Stafford: questions
What is the median household income in Stafford?
$163,155 (±$53,111) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stafford?
6.9%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stafford?
33 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stafford work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (29%, 11 mi), Beaverton (7%, 10 mi), Lake Oswego (7%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stafford walkable?
Stafford is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stafford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 4% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stafford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stafford
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.