Work & commute · Highland Park

Work & commute in Highland Park, NJ

Most working residents leave Highland Park for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are New Brunswick (11%), Edison (9%) and New York (5%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

321 of 6,263 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

26%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 5,942 Highland Park residents head out of town to work, 321 work right here, and 2,043 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Highland Park.

5,942live here, work elsewhere

321live and work here

2,043work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Highland Park goes to work

New Brunswick1.3 mi away

11%716

Edison4.2 mi away

9%544

Highland Park (in town)right here

5%321

New York, NY28 mi away

5%316

Franklin6.6 mi away

4%240

Piscataway3.5 mi away

4%236

Woodbridge8.3 mi away

3%191

East Brunswick5.2 mi away

3%172

Newark20.4 mi away

2%150

North Brunswick4.4 mi away

2%130

Everywhere elseother towns and states

52%3,247

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

How far

How far Highland Park commutes

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

48%

27%

20%

48%Under 10 mi

27%10–24 mi

20%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Highland Park is a commuter town

0.38jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Highland Park are

2,364 jobs are based in Highland Park. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Highland Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Highland Park

2,364 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)86%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Highland Park residents hold

6,263 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+0%

Jobs based in Highland Park, 2013 → 2023: 2,361 → 2,364. 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.