Photo: Mark Levisay · CC BY 2.0Stanley has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
351 jobs are based in Stanley for 742 working residents. Stanley grades C for jobs and income and C for walkability. Measured by household income, Stanley is behind 82% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Stanley: the figures worth knowing
Stanley and Luray trade workers both ways
Luray is the top workplace for Stanley residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Stanley come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Stanley workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 38 minutes each way, against 27 across Virginia. Over a year that’s about 291 hours of commuting, 84 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Stanley workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 18% across Virginia. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 742 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Stanley’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Stanley is better than 26% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Stanley’s grade up (2.9%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Stanley could be anywhere from D to B−.
18% of working residents work in Luray
Where Stanley clocks in
18% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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.
From Stanley, about 38 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stanley workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,043 commuters (the 1% who work from home are left out). Across Virginia: 83% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who leaves Stanley for work, and who comes in
On a workday 709 residents head out to work, 33 work right here, and 318 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Stanley on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Jobs in Stanley: what the 351 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stanley, 2013 → 2023: 237 → 351. 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Stanley
About 24% 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.
In Stanley, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stanley is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Virginia.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,052 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). 3.7% of Stanley households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Stanley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,760 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300, Stanley comes 3,655th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Great Falls Crossing VA | 1,414 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Mason Neck VA | 2,039 | $168K | 1.1% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Bull Run Mountain Estates VA | 1,827 | $250K | 1.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,653 | Pelzer SC | 1,434 | $58K | 26.9% | 5.7% | <1% | C |
| 3,654 | Gordonsville VA | 1,587 | $62K | 14.1% | 1.5% | 5% | C |
| 3,655 | Stanley VA | 1,704 | $54K | 14.0% | 2.9% | 4% | C |
| 3,656 | Spice Valley Township IN | 2,217 | $82K | 15.6% | 3.6% | 1% | C |
| 3,657 | Spring Township PA | 1,385 | $62K | 10.3% | 3.1% | 3% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Stanley, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
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?
$54,301 (±$13,506) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stanley?
14.0%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stanley?
38 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stanley work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Luray (18%, 6 mi), Harrisonburg (4%, 23 mi), Winchester (4%, 44 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stanley walkable?
Stanley is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stanley without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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.