Work & commute · Jersey

Work & commute in Jersey, NJ

Most working residents leave Jersey for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are New York (39%), Newark (4%) and Hoboken (2%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

23,640 of 137,028 working residents

Typical commute

7 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

37 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

25%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 113,388 Jersey residents head out of town to work, 23,640 work right here, and 100,810 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Jersey.

113,388live here, work elsewhere

23,640live and work here

100,810work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Jersey goes to work

New York, NY7.4 mi away

39%53,937

Jersey City (in town)right here

17%23,640

Newark5.7 mi away

4%5,883

Hoboken3 mi away

2%3,237

Secaucus4.9 mi away

2%2,637

Bayonne4.2 mi away

1%1,528

Edison20.7 mi away

1%1,308

North Bergen6 mi away

1%1,284

Woodbridge15.8 mi away

1%1,174

Elizabeth7.4 mi away

1%1,155

Everywhere elseother towns and states

30%41,245

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

How far

How far Jersey commutes

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

75%

14%

75%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Jersey is balanced between jobs and homes

0.91jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.91 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Jersey are

124,450 jobs are based in Jersey. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Jersey’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Jersey

124,450 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)80%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month74%

Jobs Jersey residents hold

137,028 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month73%

+18%

Jobs based in Jersey, 2013 → 2023: 105,401 → 124,450. 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.