Living in Sterling

In Sterling (Virginia), unemployment is 3.7% (2024).

Sterling had a population of 30,337 at the end of 2020. Sterling had an unemployment rate of 3.71% at the end of 2024. The foreign population count was 15,055 at the end of 2024.

Last checked 2026-10-0726 sources

Population30,337people31 Dec 2020Official source · U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb Census 2020

Median gross salary3,505EUR/month31 Dec 2020Official source · 2024 American Community Survey 5-year detailed tables

Median rent1,975EUR/month31 Dec 2020Official source · ACS 2020-2024 5-year table-based Summary File, table B25064 (Median Gross Rent), place records

Unemployment rate3.71%country median 4.6% — 19% belowOfficial source · Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS)

PM2.5, annual mean6.55µg/m³31 Dec 2024Nearest stationOfficial source · U.S. EPA Air Quality System / AirData

Lower unemployment than 66% of American cities that publish it and cleaner air than 65% of American cities that publish it.

Which United States-wide rules apply when you move to Sterling?

National rules stay on the country page instead of being relabelled as city data.

Visa and entry rulesPassport-specific entry and national residence context.BenefitsCountry-wide eligibility and official application routes.Taxes in United StatesNational rates and thresholds that apply in Sterling.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

What recurs every month2 published recurring costs, € per month

€ / month

Internet, 60 Mbps€60

Mobile plan, 10 GB€22

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited	60.38 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	Verizon 300 Mbps home internet¹³Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	21.57 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	Visible unlimited mobile plan¹⁴Official · national market
Average monthly rent (whole dwelling)	1,968 EUR/month	31 Dec 2020	ACS 2020-2024 5-year table-based Summary File, tables B25065 (Aggregate Gross Rent) and B25063 (Gross Rent, units with cash rent)³Official
Median monthly rent	1,975 EUR/month	31 Dec 2020	ACS 2020-2024 5-year table-based Summary File, table B25064 (Median Gross Rent), place records²Official

Is Sterling a good place to live?

There is no universal answer. The profile scores below show who the available published evidence may suit; they are a decision aid, not a personal recommendation.

Try your profile

Remote worker28%strong on work, weak on safety · range 18–38%

Skilled employee39%strong on work, weak on safety · range 30–48%

Student30%strong on legal route, weak on safety · range 19–41%

Family36%strong on family, weak on safety · range 25–47%

Retirement31%strong on air quality, weak on admin · range 18–44%

Worked out from these numbers

How international is the population?

49.6% of residents hold a foreign nationality — 15,055 of 30,337 people. This counts nationality, not place of birth, so long-settled residents who naturalised are not in it.

Work and income

Unemployment across cities in United StatesUnemployment in Sterling is 3.7%. Of 2,153 cities with data, 1,250 have unemployment of 0 to under 5%.

1,250

778

0–55–1010–1515–2020–2525–30

Sterling 3.7%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Median gross salary	3,505 EUR/month	31 Dec 2020	2024 American Community Survey 5-year detailed tables¹Official
Unemployment rate	3.71 %country median 4.6%	31 Dec 2024	Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS)⁵Official

What does a salary buy in Sterling?

Take-home pay after tax, minus rent and the everyday bills this city publishes. Each line names its source.

Left over each month€702of €2,751 take-home

Rent
Internet
Mobile
Left over

Line-by-line breakdown and sources

Each month	€
Take-home payOECD Taxing Wages 2025, single, no children. Includes central and local income tax and employee social contributions; euro amounts at the ECB average for 2026-08.	€2,751
Rentaverage rent of a whole dwelling · official · ACS 2020-2024 5-year table-based Summary File, tables B25065 (Aggregate Gross Rent) and B25063 (Gross Rent, units with cash rent) · 2020-12-31	− €1,968
Internet€60 · official · Verizon 300 Mbps home internet · 2026-09-30	− €60
Mobile plan€22 · official · Visible unlimited mobile plan · 2026-09-30	− €22
Other everyday billsnot published for this city: public transport pass, utilities	—
Left overbefore the bills this city does not publish	€702

Take-home pay for other salaries and households Compare with another city Check a job offer in Sterling Salary needed to live in Sterling

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Sterling. The verified national service may still offer online registration, job search or an official office finder.

Country-level information

American Job Centers — Public employment service

U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration

Job Search

Open official service

Open the United States service overview

Country-level service information is not treated as proof of a physical office in Sterling. Sources checked through 10 Aug 2026.

Healthcare

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Physicians per 100,000 residents	224.6 per 100,000	31 Dec 2023	Area Health Resources Files (AHRF), County 2024-2025 release⁴Official · county

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Sterling when the national insurance or residence conditions are met.

Healthcare access follows the country-wide insurance rules; local capacity facts remain city data and are not used as proof of eligibility.

Open the official coverage guide

Country rule verified 2026-08-03.

Mobility and administration

Sterling's nearest airport was IAD, 7 km away and offered 126 direct destinations.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Direct destinations from the nearest major airport	126 count	3 Aug 2026	OpenFlights⁶Official
Distance to the nearest major airport	7 km	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁷Official
Nearest major airport (IATA code)	IAD	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁷Official

Language courses and integration

No exact city-level course record is currently published for Sterling. These verified national programmes may still apply; use the official programme page to check local availability.

Country-level information

Adult Education and English Language Acquisition (AEFLA) — State Language Course

U.S. Department of Education

For adult learners, adult English-language learners.

EnglishIn Person, Online, HybridCost varies

Open official information

USCIS English and citizenship class finder — Civic Orientation

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

For immigrants, future citizens.

EnglishIn Person, OnlineCost varies

Open official information

Open the full United States section

National programme information is not treated as proof of a course location in Sterling.

Find courses near Sterling

Climate and air quality

Annual PM2.5 in the air was 6.5 µg/m³ at the end of 2024. Monthly mean temperature moved from 1.1°C in January to 25.1°C in July.

Temperature through the yearAverage daytime high and night-time low, °C

0°

6°-4°

8°-3°

13°1°

19°6°

24°12°

28°17°

31°19°

30°18°

26°14°

20°7°

14°2°

8°-2°

JFMAMJJASOND

Night-time low to daytime high

Rainfall through the yearAverage monthly precipitation, mm

120

109

105

100

JFMAMJJASOND

Air quality vs health guidelinesAnnual means against WHO 2021 guidelines and EU legal limits

Within WHO 2021 guidelineAbove WHO, within EU limitAbove EU legal limitCity annual mean · µg/m³

PM2.56.5WHO 5 · EU 25

City values from the published air-quality observations. WHO 2021 guidelines and EU limit values are published constants.

PM2.5 across cities in United StatesAnnual PM2.5 in Sterling is 6.6 µg/m³. Of 968 cities with data, 261 have annual PM2.5 of 6 to under 7 µg/m³.

135

261

252

124

1–22–33–44–55–66–77–88–99–1010–1111–1212–1313–1414–1515–16

Sterling 6.6

Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
PM2.5 — annual mean	6.55 µg/m³	31 Dec 2024	U.S. EPA Air Quality System / AirData¹²Official · nearest-station reading
Average daytime high by month	Jan 5.9 · Feb 7.9 · Mar 12.7 · Apr 19.3 · May 23.9 · Jun 28.4 · Jul 30.9 · Aug 30.2 · Sep 26.3 · Oct 19.9 · Nov 13.6 · Dec 8 °C	31 Dec 1991	World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI¹⁵Official · nearest-station reading
Average night-time low by month	Jan -3.8 · Feb -2.9 · Mar 0.9 · Apr 6.2 · May 11.6 · Jun 16.6 · Jul 19.4 · Aug 18.4 · Sep 14.4 · Oct 7.4 · Nov 2 · Dec -1.7 °C	31 Dec 1991	World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI¹⁶Official · nearest-station reading
Average temperature by month	Jan 1.1 · Feb 2.5 · Mar 6.8 · Apr 12.8 · May 17.8 · Jun 22.5 · Jul 25.1 · Aug 24.3 · Sep 20.3 · Oct 13.6 · Nov 7.8 · Dec 3.2 °C	31 Dec 1991	World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI¹⁷Official · nearest-station reading
Average precipitation by month	Jan 74.6 · Feb 66.2 · Mar 89 · Apr 88 · May 120 · Jun 109.3 · Jul 105.4 · Aug 89.8 · Sep 100.1 · Oct 92.7 · Nov 79.5 · Dec 83.8 mm	31 Dec 1991	World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI¹⁸Official · nearest-station reading
PM2.5, highest monitored reading	21.9 µg/m³	31 Dec 2024	US EPA Air Quality System (AQS)¹²Official · nearest-station reading
PM2.5, annual mean	7.29 µg/m³	31 Dec 2024	US EPA Air Quality System (AQS)¹²Official · nearest-station reading
Annual precipitation	1,098 mm	31 Dec 1991	NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)¹⁸Official · nearest-station reading
Maximum July temperature	30.9 °C	31 Dec 1991	NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)¹⁵Official · nearest-station reading
Average annual temperature	13.2 °C	31 Dec 1991	NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)¹⁷Official · nearest-station reading
Minimum January temperature	-3.8 °C	31 Dec 1991	NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)¹⁶Official · nearest-station reading

Similar climate. In United States: Columbia ±0.3 °C. Elsewhere: Reims (France) ±3.5 °C, Cottbus (Germany) ±3.5 °C, Markham (Canada) ±3.5 °C, Mississauga (Canada) ±3.5 °C, Richmond Hill (Canada) ±3.5 °C. Twenty closest, compared month by month

Monthly highs and lows against the 1991–2020 station normals of the nearest station; ± is the average monthly difference.

Population and city profile

Sterling spanned 14.1 km² at the end of 2025. Sterling's population density measured 2,294.7 people per km² at the end of 2024.

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport50.4%
Foreign residents49.6%

Calculated from the population and foreign-resident facts on this page.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
City area	14.12 km²	31 Dec 2025	U.S. Census Bureau (TIGERweb ArcGIS REST service)⁸Official
Foreign-resident share	46.45 %	31 Dec 2024	Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS)⁵Official
Foreign residents	15,055 people	31 Dec 2024	Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS)⁵Official
Population density	2,295 people/km²	31 Dec 2024	Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS)⁵Official
Population	30,337 people	31 Dec 2020	U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb Census 2020¹¹Official

Alternatives for people set on Sterling

Three places for the three reasons people leave a city on the shortlist: stay in the region, stay in the country, or keep the budget and change the country. A percentage appears only where both cities publish that metric from the same source, period and grain. Distances are straight lines — travel times are not collected yet.

McLean as a Sterling alternative in the same region

22 km away, better on 2 of 5 metrics measured the same way, worse on 1.

Median gross pay, city: €10,418 McLean vs €3,505 Sterling+197%
Unemployment: 2.3% McLean vs 3.7% Sterling−39%
Foreign residents: 25.0% McLean vs 46.5% Sterling−46%
Residents: 50,773 McLean vs 30,337 Sterling+67%
Annual PM2.5: 6.5 µg/m³ McLean vs 6.5 µg/m³ Sterlingsame level

Full comparison More about McLean

Cities near Sterling

Published cities within 25 km, nearest first. Distances are straight-line.

Sugarland Run 4.4 km away

Rent: 2,481 EUR/monthMedian monthly rent · 2020-12-31
Salary: 4,533 EUR/monthMedian gross salary · 2020-12-31

Dranesville 5.1 km away

Rent: 2,944 EUR/monthMedian monthly rent · 2020-12-31
Salary: 7,088 EUR/monthMedian gross salary · 2020-12-31

Reston 6.5 km away

Rent: 2,061 EUR/monthMedian monthly rent · 2020-12-31
Salary: 6,326 EUR/monthMedian gross salary · 2020-12-31

Lowes Island 7.6 km away

Rent: 2,624 EUR/monthMedian monthly rent · 2020-12-31
Salary: 8,018 EUR/monthMedian gross salary · 2020-12-31

Floris 7.6 km away

Rent: 3,010 EUR/monthMedian monthly rent · 2020-12-31
Salary: 8,438 EUR/monthMedian gross salary · 2020-12-31

Ashburn 8.3 km away

Rent: 2,268 EUR/monthMedian monthly rent · 2020-12-31
Salary: 6,351 EUR/monthMedian gross salary · 2020-12-31

Broadlands 10.1 km away

Rent: 2,489 EUR/monthMedian monthly rent · 2020-12-31
Salary: 8,601 EUR/monthMedian gross salary · 2020-12-31

Alternative cities in United States

Other cities in United States to compare with Sterling, nearest in population first.

All United States cities

Granger30,337 residents Foley30,354 residents Newark30,359 residents Central30,313 residents Morgantown30,293 residents Hazleton30,286 residents

How does Sterling compare?

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Put Sterling's key facts on your site — a card with this page's figures and a link back, free under CC BY 4.0.

Common questions

Answered from the published values on this page, each with its source and date.

What is the unemployment rate in Sterling?

The unemployment rate is 3.71 %. Source: Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS).

Is the air quality good in Sterling?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 6.55 µg/m³. The WHO 2021 guideline is 5 µg/m³ and the EU limit value is 25 µg/m³, so this reading is above the WHO guideline but within the EU limit. Source: U.S. EPA Air Quality System / AirData.

How many people live in Sterling?

The published population is 30,337 people. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb Census 2020.

How many foreign residents live in Sterling?

15,055 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS).

Is Sterling a good place to live?

Sterling may suit different people for different reasons. The page's profile scores compare published cost, work, housing, safety, healthcare and other available factors; they are a decision aid, not a universal recommendation.

Which cities are near Sterling?

Herndon, Sugarland Run, Dranesville, Reston, Lowes Island are near Sterling. Typed relationship labels are shown where published; other rows use straight-line distance from admitted coordinates.

Cite this page

Open a format to select or copy this ImmigrationDB compilation citation. The native disclosure and text fallback work without JavaScript.

APA citation

ImmigrationDB. (2026, October 16). Sterling (Virginia), United States: population, rent, salary [ImmigrationDB compilation; version b92a1a470b762f0c3f1c051dc8341c07]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/us/sterling/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_sterling-virginia-united-states-population-rent-salary_89f03b2e6fb0,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Sterling (Virginia), United States: population, rent, salary},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {b92a1a470b762f0c3f1c051dc8341c07},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/us/sterling/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Sterling (Virginia), United States: population, rent, salary](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/us/sterling/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version b92a1a470b762f0c3f1c051dc8341c07; retrieved 2026-10-16; built 2026-10-16.

This citation identifies the ImmigrationDB compilation/page. Underlying source publishers and datasets retain their own terms; inspect the Sources section and cite those records separately. View the underlying source records.

Sources

JSON Markdown

2024 American Community Survey 5-year detailed tables api.census.gov · checked 2026-10-04
ACS 2020-2024 5-year table-based Summary File, table B25064 (Median Gross Rent), place records www2.census.gov · checked 2026-09-18
ACS 2020-2024 5-year table-based Summary File, tables B25065 (Aggregate Gross Rent) and B25063 (Gross Rent, units with cash rent) www2.census.gov · checked 2026-09-19
Area Health Resources Files (AHRF), County 2024-2025 release data.hrsa.gov · checked 2026-10-04
Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS) api.censusreporter.org · checked 2026-08-03
OpenFlights raw.githubusercontent.com · checked 2026-08-03
OurAirports davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-08-03
U.S. Census Bureau (TIGERweb ArcGIS REST service) tigerweb.geo.census.gov · checked 2026-08-03
U.S. Census Bureau TIGERweb Places (layer 4 incorporated places, layer 5 CDPs; identical query) tigerweb.geo.census.gov · checked 2026-09-11
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey api.census.gov · checked 2026-08-07

Show 16 more sources

U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb Census 2020 tigerweb.geo.census.gov · checked 2026-08-05
U.S. EPA Air Quality System / AirData aqs.epa.gov · checked 2026-08-05
Verizon 300 Mbps home internet verizon.com · checked 2026-09-15
Visible unlimited mobile plan visible.com · checked 2026-09-15
World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI nodc.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-05
World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI nodc.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-05
World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI nodc.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-05
World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI nodc.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-05
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06

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