Work & commute · Fort Lee

Work & commute in Fort Lee, NJ

Most working residents leave Fort Lee for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are New York (39%), Jersey City (3%) and Englewood Cliffs (2%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1,407 of 18,026 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

35 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 16,619 Fort Lee residents head out of town to work, 1,407 work right here, and 10,667 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Fort Lee.

16,619live here, work elsewhere

1,407live and work here

10,667work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Fort Lee goes to work

New York, NY13.1 mi away

39%7,016

Fort Lee (in town)right here

8%1,407

Jersey City10.8 mi away

3%469

Englewood Cliffs2.7 mi away

2%395

Englewood2.8 mi away

2%374

Hackensack4.7 mi away

2%327

Paramus8.5 mi away

2%301

Newark13.7 mi away

1%224

Teaneck3.5 mi away

1%216

Palisades Park1.4 mi away

1%198

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%7,099

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

How far

How far Fort Lee commutes

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

35%

54%

35%Under 10 mi

54%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Fort Lee is a commuter town

0.67jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.67 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Fort Lee are

12,074 jobs are based in Fort Lee. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fort Lee’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Fort Lee

12,074 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)79%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month63%

Jobs Fort Lee residents hold

18,026 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month73%

+3%

Jobs based in Fort Lee, 2013 → 2023: 11,720 → 12,074. 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.