Work & commute · Highlands

Work & commute in Highlands, NJ

Most working residents leave Highlands for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are New York (14%), Middletown (5%) and Red Bank (3%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

165 of 2,070 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

35 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,905 Highlands residents head out of town to work, 165 work right here, and 631 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Highlands.

1,905live here, work elsewhere

165live and work here

631work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Highlands goes to work

New York, NY18.1 mi away

14%292

Highlands (in town)right here

8%165

Middletown4.3 mi away

5%107

Red Bank5.6 mi away

3%59

Woodbridge19.3 mi away

3%58

Long Branch7.5 mi away

3%57

Edison20.2 mi away

2%48

Atlantic Highlands2 mi away

2%44

Jersey City21.6 mi away

2%37

Tinton Falls11.1 mi away

2%35

Everywhere elseother towns and states

56%1,168

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

How far

How far Highlands commutes

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

31%

42%

22%

31%Under 10 mi

42%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Highlands 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 Highlands are

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

Jobs based in Highlands

796 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)78%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs Highlands residents hold

2,070 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month72%

+29%

Jobs based in Highlands, 2013 → 2023: 615 → 796. 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.