Work & commute · Metuchen

Work & commute in Metuchen, NJ

Most working residents leave Metuchen for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are New York (10%), Edison (10%) and New Brunswick (5%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

414 of 6,537 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

38 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

27%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,123 Metuchen residents head out of town to work, 414 work right here, and 4,965 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Metuchen.

6,123live here, work elsewhere

414live and work here

4,965work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Metuchen goes to work

New York, NY23.7 mi away

10%658

Edison2.7 mi away

10%648

Metuchen (in town)right here

6%414

New Brunswick5.8 mi away

5%319

Woodbridge3.9 mi away

4%281

Jersey City19.5 mi away

3%179

Newark16 mi away

3%174

Piscataway5.1 mi away

2%159

Bridgewater13.1 mi away

2%123

Franklin10.9 mi away

2%118

Everywhere elseother towns and states

53%3,464

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

How far

How far Metuchen commutes

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

41%

42%

12%

41%Under 10 mi

42%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Metuchen is balanced between jobs and homes

0.82jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.82 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Metuchen are

5,379 jobs are based in Metuchen. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Metuchen’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Metuchen

5,379 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Metuchen residents hold

6,537 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month75%

−3%

Jobs based in Metuchen, 2013 → 2023: 5,535 → 5,379. 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.