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Work & commute in Lopatcong · A commuter town

96% of Lopatcong’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Lopatcong for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Phillipsburg (8%), New York (3%) and Raritan (2%). Half commute less than 29 miles.

Work in town
4%
161 of 4,148 working residents
Typical commute
29 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
39 min
More than NJ (31 min)
Work from home
12%
Less than NJ (17%)
Jobs based here
1,716
A commuter town
Work out of state
23%
mostly New York

What kind of work town is Lopatcong?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

8% of working residents work in Phillipsburg

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Alpha: 55 residents work here (1%)Phillipsburg: 313 residents work here (8%)Newark: 76 residents work here (2%)New York: 140 residents work here (3%)EastonBethlehem: 67 residents work here (2%)Raritan: 101 residents work here (2%)Bridgewater: 71 residents work here (2%)PohatcongGreenwichClinton: 63 residents work here (2%)HarmonyReadington: 78 residents work here (2%)LopatcongPalmerForksBethlehemPhillipsburgNew YorkRaritanReadingtonNewarkBridgewaterLopatcong
1
Phillipsburg2 mi away
8%313
2
Lopatcong (in town)right here
4%161
3
New York, NY63.8 mi away
3%140
4
Raritan17.8 mi away
2%101
5
Readington22.1 mi away
2%78
6
Newark51.5 mi away
2%76
7
Bridgewater30.1 mi away
2%71
8
Bethlehem, PA12.7 mi away
2%67
9
Clinton16.2 mi away
2%63
10
Alpha3.8 mi away
1%55
Everywhere elseother towns and states
73%3,023
The top trips

Where Lopatcong clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 39 minutes each way, longer than most of New Jersey

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
299 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Lopatcong39 min
New Jersey31 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
12%

of Lopatcong workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10

How Lopatcong ranks on commute time →

Day and night

Lopatcong quiets down on a workday

On a workday 3,987 residents head out to work, 161 work right here, and 1,555 people come in from elsewhere.

3,987live here, work elsewhere
161live and work here
1,555work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night9,300
Workday6,900
9,300live here− 4,000head out to work+ 1,600come in to work= 6,900on a workday

About 6,900 people are in Lopatcong on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.41jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.41 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.

How far

Half of Lopatcong commutes less than 29 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi75 miPhillipsburg: 8% · 2 miNew York: 3% · 63.8 miRaritan: 2% · 17.8 miReadington: 2% · 22.1 miNewark: 2% · 51.5 miBridgewater: 2% · 30.1 miBethlehem: 2% · 12.7 miClinton: 2% · 16.2 miAlpha: 1% · 3.8 miPhillipsburg 8%New York 3%Raritan 2%Readington 2%Lopatcong
LopatcongTop destinations (size = commuters)
22%Under 10 mi912 residents
23%10–24 mi945 residents
34%25–50 mi1,422 residents
21%Over 50 mi864 residents

About 21% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

67% of the jobs in Lopatcong pay over $3,333 a month

1,716 jobs are based in Lopatcong. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lopatcong’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in LopatcongJobs Lopatcong residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms12%14%
Trade, transport & utilities35%20%
Services: health, schools, offices52%67%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less9%11%
$1,251–$3,333 a month24%19%
Over $3,333 a month67%70%

Who does it

29 or younger19%18%
30 to 5452%52%
55 and older29%30%
−11%

Jobs based in Lopatcong, 2013 → 2023: 1,926 → 1,716. 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.

Next door

Lopatcong and the towns next door

The biggest share goes to Phillipsburg (8%). Darker towns draw more of Lopatcong’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

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.
Beyond the commute

More of Lopatcong

Lopatcong home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Lopatcong, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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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.

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