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Work & commute in Port Reading · A commuter town

98% of Port Reading’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Port Reading for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Woodbridge (19%), New York (8%) and Edison (6%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Work in town
2%
32 of 2,067 working residents
Typical commute
11 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
32 min
More than NJ (31 min)
Work from home
7%
Less than NJ (17%)
Jobs based here
835
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Port Reading?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

19% of working residents work in Woodbridge

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

RahwayCarteret: 68 residents work here (3%)Perth Amboy: 46 residents work here (2%)New Brunswick: 45 residents work here (2%)BayonneLinden: 45 residents work here (2%)Elizabeth: 56 residents work here (3%)SayrevilleJersey City: 43 residents work here (2%)Newark: 54 residents work here (3%)New York: 172 residents work here (8%)Edison: 123 residents work here (6%)Woodbridge: 385 residents work here (19%)SewarenPort ReadingAvenelWoodbridgeNew YorkEdisonCarteretElizabethNewarkPort Reading
1
Woodbridge2.5 mi away
19%385
2
New York, NY17.4 mi away
8%172
3
Edison7 mi away
6%123
4
Carteret1.5 mi away
3%68
5
Elizabeth7.4 mi away
3%56
6
Newark11.5 mi away
3%54
7
Perth Amboy3.5 mi away
2%46
8
New Brunswick11.9 mi away
2%45
9
Linden4.2 mi away
2%45
10
Jersey City13.7 mi away
2%43
Everywhere elseother towns and states
50%1,030
The top trips

Where Port Reading clocks in

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

Next door

22% of Port Reading works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Woodbridge (19%). Darker towns draw more of Port Reading’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

Day and night

Port Reading quiets down on a workday

On a workday 2,035 residents head out to work, 32 work right here, and 803 people come in from elsewhere.

2,035live here, work elsewhere
32live and work here
803work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night3,500
Workday2,300
3,500live here− 2,000head out to work+ 800come in to work= 2,300on a workday

About 2,300 people are in Port Reading on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.40jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.40 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 Port Reading commutes less than 11 miles

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

10 mi25 mi30 miWoodbridge: 19% · 2.5 miNew York: 8% · 17.4 miEdison: 6% · 7 miCarteret: 3% · 1.5 miElizabeth: 3% · 7.4 miNewark: 3% · 11.5 miPerth Amboy: 2% · 3.5 miNew Brunswick: 2% · 11.9 miLinden: 2% · 4.2 miJersey City: 2% · 13.7 miWoodbridge 19%New York 8%Edison 6%Carteret 3%Elizabeth 3%Port Reading
Port ReadingTop destinations (size = commuters)
46%Under 10 mi946 residents
41%10–24 mi843 residents
10%25–50 mi198 residents
4%Over 50 mi78 residents

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

The jobs

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

835 jobs are based in Port Reading. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Port Reading’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Port ReadingJobs Port Reading residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms25%9%
Trade, transport & utilities44%27%
Services: health, schools, offices31%64%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less10%12%
$1,251–$3,333 a month24%23%
Over $3,333 a month67%65%

Who does it

29 or younger15%21%
30 to 5451%53%
55 and older34%26%
−43%

Jobs based in Port Reading, 2013 → 2023: 1,472 → 835. 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.

Time on the road

About 32 minutes each way, about the NJ average

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

A year of commuting
245 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Port Reading32 min
New Jersey31 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
7%

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

About 1 in 10
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 Port Reading

Port Reading home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Port Reading, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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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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