About Stanford

Stanford is a somewhat small town located in the state of California. With a population of 13,356 people and just one neighborhood, Stanford is the 370th largest community in California.

Stanford is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 97.58% 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 managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Stanford who work in teaching (28.60%), the sciences (13.35%), and office and administrative support jobs (10.66%).

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.

Of important note, Stanford is also a town of artists. Stanford has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Stanford's character.

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.

A relatively large number of people in Stanford telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 7.25% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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 a small town where college students really create the town feel and character. So many small towns have lost population over the last 20-30 years that having the local college presence in the Stanford area, with all of the energy of the students filling area dorms and apartments each fall, really helps Stanford maintain a good economy.

Stanford, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the town.

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 12.67 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the town are less than they would otherwise be.

Stanford Information and Demographics

Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Stanford. 94.49% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 14.96%.

The per capita income in Stanford in 2000 was $22,506, which is upper middle income relative to California and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $90,024 for a family of four.

Stanford is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Stanford home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Stanford is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Stanford include German, English, Irish, Italian, and Russian.

Stanford also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 25.22%.

The languages spoken by people in Stanford are also diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in Stanford is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese, Spanish, and Korean.