Stanford is a medium-sized town located in the state of California. With a population of 21,150 people and three associated neighborhoods, Stanford is the 311th largest community in California. Stanford home prices are not only among the most expensive in California, but Stanford real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Stanford is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 95.87% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Stanford is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Stanford who work in teaching (36.69%), the sciences (10.92%), and office and administrative support (8.00%). And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Stanford has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too. Also of interest is that Stanford has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 21.18% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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. Stanford is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in Stanford have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. Stanford’s economy is one such example of this. Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Stanford spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 17.07 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the town are less than they would otherwise be.If knowledge is power, Stanford is a pretty powerful place. 91.96% of the adults in Stanford have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns. The per capita income in Stanford in 2022 was $40,495, which is middle income relative to California, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $161,980 for a family of four. However, Stanford contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Stanford is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Stanford home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Stanford residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Stanford also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 16.91% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Stanford include German, Irish, Italian, English, and Polish. In addition, Stanford has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (28.50%). The most common language spoken in Stanford is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
