Fort Colvin · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Stephens City has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
There are 307 jobs in Stephens City for 963 working residents. The two grades for Stephens City are A− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Stephens City at work: what stands out
Stephens City workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 44 minutes each way, against 27 across Virginia. Over a year that’s about 337 hours of commuting, 130 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Stephens City empties out on a workday
About 1,600 people are in Stephens City on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than the 2,200 who live here: 940 head out to work and 290 come in. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Stephens City
60% of Stephens City residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 39% of the jobs based in Stephens City pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 98% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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 963 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Stephens City’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Stephens City is better than 76% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (4.3%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Stephens City could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
Commuting from Stephens City: about 44 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 14 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stephens City workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,296 commuters (the 10% 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 commutes out of Stephens City, and who commutes in
On a workday 941 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 285 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Stephens City on a workday afternoon, 30% 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.
The kinds of work in Stephens City
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stephens City, 2013 → 2023: 263 → 307. 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 Stephens City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
22% of working residents work in Winchester
Where Stephens City clocks in
22% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
Stephens City’s commute, mile by mile
About 25% 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.
For most of Stephens City, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stephens City is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Stephens City 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 1,440 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). 1.1% of Stephens City households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Stephens City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Stephens City is 955th of 5,641 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 3,000 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Sully Square VA | 2,394 | $176K | 0.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Oak Grove VA | 2,408 | $174K | 0.6% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Mason Neck VA | 2,039 | $168K | 1.1% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 953 | Lookout Mountain GA | 1,662 | $158K | 2.2% | 1.6% | 3% | A− |
| 954 | Red Hook NY | 1,956 | $107K | 7.9% | 2.4% | 7% | A− |
| 955 | Stephens City VA | 2,207 | $103K | 4.3% | 4.1% | 2% | A− |
| 956 | Heyworth IL | 2,869 | $97K | 6.1% | 3.2% | 10% | A− |
| 957 | Dayton VA | 1,791 | $76K | 4.7% | 2.6% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,641 | 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 Stephens City, 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 Stephens City: questions
What is the median household income in Stephens City?
$102,593 (±$39,182) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stephens City?
4.3%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stephens City?
44 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stephens City work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Winchester (22%, 6 mi), Front Royal (3%, 12 mi), Leesburg (2%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stephens City walkable?
Stephens City is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stephens City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stephens City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stephens City
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.