Work & commute · Carteret

Work & commute in Carteret, NJ

Most working residents leave Carteret for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are New York (9%), Woodbridge (8%) and Edison (7%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1,020 of 10,852 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 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 9,832 Carteret residents head out of town to work, 1,020 work right here, and 10,250 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Carteret.

9,832live here, work elsewhere

1,020live and work here

10,250work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Carteret goes to work

Carteret (in town)right here

9%1,020

New York, NY16.1 mi away

9%959

Woodbridge3.7 mi away

8%892

Edison8.4 mi away

7%743

Newark10.1 mi away

5%490

Elizabeth6 mi away

3%317

Jersey City12.3 mi away

3%284

Perth Amboy5 mi away

2%260

Union8 mi away

2%221

New Brunswick13.2 mi away

2%217

Everywhere elseother towns and states

50%5,449

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

How far

How far Carteret commutes

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

42%

43%

10%

42%Under 10 mi

43%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Carteret is balanced between jobs and homes

1.04jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.04 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Carteret are

11,270 jobs are based in Carteret. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Carteret’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Carteret

11,270 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities69%

Services (health, schools, offices…)19%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Carteret residents hold

10,852 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities32%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month60%

+50%

Jobs based in Carteret, 2013 → 2023: 7,497 → 11,270. 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.