Work & commute · Sterling

Work & commute in Sterling, VA

Most working residents leave Sterling for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Reston (5%), Tysons (5%) and Ashburn (5%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

573 of 15,124 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 14,551 Sterling residents head out of town to work, 573 work right here, and 10,726 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Sterling.

14,551live here, work elsewhere

573live and work here

10,726work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Sterling goes to work

Reston4.7 mi away

5%823

Tysons11.2 mi away

5%759

Ashburn3.7 mi away

5%715

Arlington18.6 mi away

4%657

Chantilly8.2 mi away

4%606

Washington, DC22 mi away

4%598

Sterling (in town)right here

4%573

Dulles Town Center1.4 mi away

4%569

Leesburg10.9 mi away

3%404

Herndon2.6 mi away

2%370

Everywhere elseother towns and states

60%9,050

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Sterling commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

46%

39%

46%Under 10 mi

39%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Sterling is a commuter town

0.75jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.75 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Sterling are

11,299 jobs are based in Sterling. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sterling’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Sterling

11,299 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)46%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)42%

$1,250 a month or less7%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month75%

Jobs Sterling residents hold

15,124 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month63%

+20%

Jobs based in Sterling, 2013 → 2023: 9,408 → 11,299. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.