Sterling is a very small city located in the state of Kansas. With a population of 2,275 people and just one neighborhood, Sterling is the 155th largest community in Kansas. Sterling has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.
Sterling is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Sterling is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Sterling who work in office and administrative support (13.20%), teaching (13.02%), and management occupations (9.69%).
Of important note, Sterling is also a city of artists. Sterling has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Sterling’s character.
As is often the case in a small city, Sterling doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The education level of Sterling citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 35.08% of adults in Sterling have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.
The per capita income in Sterling in 2022 was $22,770, which is low income relative to Kansas and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $91,080 for a family of four. However, Sterling contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Sterling is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Sterling home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Sterling residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Sterling include German, English, Irish, Italian, and Dutch.
The most common language spoken in Sterling is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Tagalog.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
An extraordinary 15.8% of the residents of the neighborhood are currently enrolled in college. This is such a large part of life in this neighborhood that the neighborhood changes a great deal with the change of semesters and is far quieter during the summer when many students are away.
In addition, one of the really interesting characteristics about the neighborhood is that, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research, it is an excellent choice in which to reside for college students. Due to its popularity among college students who already choose to live here, its walkability, and its above average safety from crime, the neighborhood is ideal for prospective or already-enrolled college students. Between semesters and during school breaks, you'll notice that the excitement here fluctuates with the college seasons. Despite the excitement however, parents of college-age children can rest easy knowing that this neighborhood has an above average safety rating. For each of these reasons, the neighborhood is rated among the top 4.6% of college-friendly places to live in the state of Kansas. In addition to being an excellent choice for college students, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for active retirees.
This neighborhood has wide open spaces, few people, and lots of space to stretch out. If you like locations that fit that description, you may like this neighborhood. Based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, with only 10 people per square mile living here, this neighborhood is less crowded than 97.1% of America.
In the neighborhood, walking to work is a real option for many. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research reveals walking to and from work is the chosen way to commute for 12.0% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 96.0% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Sterling are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 68.2% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 12.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 55.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 40.3% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 24.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (19.2%), and 14.0% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.1% of households.
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the neighborhood in Sterling, KS, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (29.2%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (13.9%), and residents who report Irish roots (6.6%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (4.3%), along with some Mexican ancestry residents (3.6%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (50.1% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (76.7%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (12.0%) and 5.3% of residents also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.