Sterling St Station: Ridership & Busiest Hours
Brooklyn · 2 5 trains · From MTA open data, Oct 23, 2025 – Oct 22, 2026 · Not affiliated with the MTA
How busy is Sterling St?
About 3,795 riders a day enter Sterling St (Oct 23, 2025 – Oct 22, 2026). It is the #253 busiest of 424 subway stations. Ridership at Sterling St is up 6.6% in 2026 so far compared with the same days of 2025 (whole subway: +2.9%).
When is it busiest?
Average riders entering per hour, last 56 days (from Aug 28, 2026).
The busiest hour is 8 AM, with about 575 riders entering on an average day. The quietest hour is 2 AM (about 5).
- 12 AM13
- 1 AM6
- 2 AM5
- 3 AM9
- 4 AM23
- 5 AM66
- 6 AM177
- 7 AM439
- 8 AM575
- 9 AM375
- 10 AM245
- 11 AM225
- 12 PM222
- 1 PM229
- 2 PM220
- 3 PM214
- 4 PM223
- 5 PM254
- 6 PM209
- 7 PM133
- 8 PM87
- 9 PM61
- 10 PM42
- 11 PM28
Station report card
Elevators and escalators: share of hours in service over 24 hours, October 2025 – September 2026 (MTA availability). Entrapments = times riders were stuck inside an elevator. Riders vs 2019 compares the last 12 months with 2019, the last full year before the pandemic.
| Accessible (ADA) | No |
| Riders vs 2019 | 83% of the 2019 level (October 2025 – September 2026) |
Where do riders from here go?
Share of subway trips starting here that end at each station, September 2026 (MTA origin-destination ridership estimate).
The top 5 destinations take 19% of subway trips that start at Sterling St.
- 1Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr2 3 4 5 B D N Q R · Brooklyn4.9%
- 2Borough Hall/Court St2 3 4 5 R · Brooklyn3.9%
- 3Flatbush Av-Brooklyn College2 5 · Brooklyn3.5%
- 414 St-Union Sq4 5 6 L N Q R W · Manhattan3.4%
- 5Fulton St2 3 4 5 A C J Z · Manhattan3.3%
Lines at this station
On time = share of each line's trips reaching the last stop within 5 minutes of schedule (MTA terminal on-time performance), October 2025 – September 2026. The MTA measures this per line, not per station.
Sterling St is served by the 2, 5 trains.
Nearby stations
Straight-line distance.
| Station | Lines | Riders a day | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| President St-Medgar Evers College | 2 5 | 2,328 | 0.4 mi |
| Winthrop St | 2 5 | 5,318 | 0.4 mi |
| Nostrand Av | 3 | 2,345 | 0.5 mi |
| Prospect Park | B Q S | 7,247 | 0.6 mi |
| Kingston Av | 3 | 2,883 | 0.6 mi |
Questions
How many people use Sterling St station?
About 3,795 riders a day enter Sterling St (Oct 23, 2025 – Oct 22, 2026). It is the #253 busiest of 424 subway stations.
When is Sterling St station busiest?
The busiest hour is 8 AM, with about 575 riders entering on an average day. The quietest hour is 2 AM (about 5).
Is Sterling St getting busier?
Ridership at Sterling St is up 6.6% in 2026 so far compared with the same days of 2025 (whole subway: +2.9%).
Which trains stop at Sterling St?
Sterling St is served by the 2, 5 trains.
Data: MTA Subway Hourly Ridership (data.ny.gov). Riders are entries at the turnstiles and OMNY readers, so transfers inside the station are not counted. Updated Oct 29, 2026. All stations ranked → · All subway ridership →
Source code: github.com/MantieReid/mta-data-analysis · Analysis by Mantie Reid II (CC BY 4.0).
This is an independent data analysis project and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
Data is sourced from the MTA through the New York State Open Data Portal. Visualizations, calculations, and interpretations are independently produced. Data may be revised, incomplete, or delayed. For official transit information, visit mta.info.