Photo: Willjay · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Stratford earn less than those in 89% of U.S. towns
8.1% of residents are in poverty, against 13.8% across Texas. For jobs and income Stratford is better than 16% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (B−). Home is the office for 6% of workers, against 14% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Stratford, in brief
Stratford’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Stratford is Amarillo, 80 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (59) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Stratford are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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 720 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Stratford’s grade
The poverty rate holds Stratford’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 5% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.1%) is left out: Stratford’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, Stratford could be anywhere from D to C+.
How far Stratford’s workers travel
About 33% 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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Getting to work from Stratford takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stratford workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 574 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 83% 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.
Stratford on a workday afternoon
On a workday 561 residents head out to work, 159 work right here, and 363 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Stratford on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.73 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.
8% of working residents work in Amarillo
Where Stratford clocks in
8% 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.
The kinds of work in Stratford
522 jobs are based in Stratford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stratford, 2013 → 2023: 642 → 522. 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 Stratford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Stratford is a driving town
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.0% across Texas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 609 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 Stratford households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Stratford’s commuters take a bus or train.
4,251st of 5,509: where Stratford ranks among U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Rollingwood TX | 1,466 | $240K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| 22 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| 23 | Serenada TX | 1,444 | $155K | 1.5% | 2.6% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,249 | Stagecoach NV | 1,892 | $70K | 13.0% | 8.5% | 1% | C− |
| 4,250 | Bentleyville PA | 2,326 | $51K | 25.5% | 7.4% | 9% | C− |
| 4,251 | Stratford TX | 1,978 | $49K | 8.1% | 2.1% | 22% | C− |
| 4,252 | Cass Township IN | 1,857 | $61K | 12.6% | 5.9% | 9% | C− |
| 4,253 | Higgins Township MI | 1,892 | $55K | 9.9% | 3.8% | 15% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Stratford, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
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 Stratford: questions
What is the median household income in Stratford?
$49,286 (±$15,464) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stratford?
8.1%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stratford?
17 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stratford work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Amarillo (8%, 80 mi), Cactus (4%, 21 mi), Dumas (3%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stratford walkable?
Stratford is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 10.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stratford 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 Stratford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stratford
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.