Work & commute · Cape May

Work & commute in Cape May, NJ

About one in 5 of Cape May’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Lower (10%), Middle (7%) and Atlantic City (3%). Half commute less than 34 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

22%

178 of 800 working residents

Typical commute

34 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 622 Cape May residents head out of town to work, 178 work right here, and 1,902 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cape May.

622live here, work elsewhere

178live and work here

1,902work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cape May goes to work

Cape May (in town)right here

22%178

Lower3 mi away

10%80

Middle11 mi away

7%56

Atlantic City38.5 mi away

3%25

Philadelphia, PA74.9 mi away

3%20

Wildwood5.4 mi away

2%18

Vineland36.6 mi away

2%17

Trenton88.9 mi away

1%9

Cherry Hill66.8 mi away

1%9

Egg Harbor34 mi away

1%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%379

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Cape May commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

39%

15%

39%

39%Under 10 mi

7%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

39%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cape May is a job hub

2.60jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Cape May are

2,080 jobs are based in Cape May. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cape May’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cape May

2,080 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)80%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Cape May residents hold

800 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month52%

−4%

Jobs based in Cape May, 2013 → 2023: 2,167 → 2,080. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.