Work & commute · New Brunswick

Work & commute in New Brunswick, NJ

Most working residents leave New Brunswick for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Edison (6%), New York (5%) and North Brunswick (4%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

2,716 of 17,788 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 15,072 New Brunswick residents head out of town to work, 2,716 work right here, and 44,062 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in New Brunswick.

15,072live here, work elsewhere

2,716live and work here

44,062work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where New Brunswick goes to work

New Brunswick (in town)right here

15%2,716

Edison5.2 mi away

6%998

New York, NY29.2 mi away

5%957

North Brunswick3.1 mi away

4%787

Franklin5.6 mi away

4%778

South Brunswick8.2 mi away

4%669

Newark21.7 mi away

2%435

Piscataway4.2 mi away

2%423

East Brunswick4.4 mi away

2%401

Woodbridge9.5 mi away

2%372

Everywhere elseother towns and states

52%9,252

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

How far

How far New Brunswick commutes

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

46%

26%

22%

46%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

New Brunswick is a job hub

2.63jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in New Brunswick are

46,778 jobs are based in New Brunswick. Here is what they are, next to the jobs New Brunswick’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in New Brunswick

46,778 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities5%

Services (health, schools, offices…)86%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month74%

Jobs New Brunswick residents hold

17,788 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+31%

Jobs based in New Brunswick, 2013 → 2023: 35,752 → 46,778. 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.