Sterling is a very small town located in the state of New York. With a population of 3,156 people and just one neighborhood, Sterling is the 452nd largest community in New York. Much of the housing stock in Sterling was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.
Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Sterling is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Sterling is a town of service providers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Sterling who work in management occupations (12.70%), food service (10.59%), and office and administrative support (10.37%).
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 14.78% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Overall, Sterling’s crime rate is one of the lowest in the nation, which makes a great place to live if safety is an important concern.
As is often the case in a small town, Sterling doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The percentage of people in Sterling who are college-educated is somewhat higher than the average US community of 21.84%: 26.91% of adults in Sterling have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Sterling in 2022 was $32,627, which is lower middle income relative to New York, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $130,508 for a family of four. However, Sterling contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
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. Important ancestries of people in Sterling include Irish, English, German, Italian, and Scottish.
The most common language spoken in Sterling is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Italian.
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Sterling, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 30.5% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 95.6% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
If you're planning where to retire, the neighborhood in Sterling is a great option to consider. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive retirement dream area analysis, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety ratings compared to other neighborhoods in NY, offers a wide range of housing options, and has already attracted an enviable mix of college educated seniors. This neighborhood ranks as better for retirement living than 86.6% of the neighborhoods in New York. If you are considering retiring to New York, this is a good neighborhood to look at.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Croatian and Irish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.3% of this neighborhood's residents have Croatian ancestry and 24.9% have Irish ancestry.
Do you like to be surrounded by people from all over the country or world, with different perspectives and life experiences? Or do you instead prefer to be in a neighborhood where most residents have lived there for a long time, creating a sense of cohesiveness? NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this neighborhood stands out among American neighborhoods for the uniqueness of the mobility of its residents. More residents of the neighborhood live here today that also were living in this same neighborhood five years ago than is found in 96.3% of U.S. neighborhoods. This neighborhood is really made up of people who know each other, don't move often, and have lived here in this very neighborhood for quite a while.
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 73.0% of U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, 9.1% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 51.7% of America'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, 31.7% 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 27.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (22.6%), and 18.0% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 94.9% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Sterling, NY, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (24.9%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (18.8%), and residents who report German roots (18.0%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (11.6%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (5.6%), 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 (31.9% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (72.9%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (6.3%) and 6.0% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work 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.