Every workday, about 17,000 people come to Iselin for work
Most working residents leave Iselin for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Woodbridge (12%), Edison (10%) and New York (10%). Half commute less than 12 miles.
What kind of work town is Iselin?
Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.
Iselin fills up on a workday
On a workday 8,370 residents head out to work, 415 work right here, and 17,305 people come in from elsewhere.
About 28,000 people are in Iselin on a workday afternoon, 46% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
22% of Iselin works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Woodbridge (12%). Darker towns draw more of Iselin’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
17,720 jobs are based in Iselin. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Iselin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Iselin, 2013 → 2023: 16,773 → 17,720. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Where Iselin’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Iselin clocks in
12% of workers
10% of workers
10% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Iselin commutes less than 12 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
About 35 minutes each way, longer than most of New Jersey
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Iselin workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
- Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
More of Iselin
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Iselin, from the people who make the trip.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.