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Work & commute in Rainbow Lakes · A job hub

Every workday, about 7,100 people come to Rainbow Lakes for work

Most working residents leave Rainbow Lakes for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Parsippany-Troy Hills (13%), New York (6%) and Morristown (4%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Work in town
2%
13 of 655 working residents
Typical commute
14 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
24 min
Less than NJ (31 min)
Work from home
24%
More than NJ (17%)
Jobs based here
7,149
A job hub

What kind of work town is Rainbow Lakes?

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

★ What stands out · Day and night

Rainbow Lakes’s population more than triples on a workday

On a workday 642 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 7,136 people come in from elsewhere.

642live here, work elsewhere
13live and work here
7,136work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,400
Workday7,900
1,400live here− 640head out to work+ 7,100come in to work= 7,900on a workday

About 7,900 people are in Rainbow Lakes on a workday afternoon, 472% more than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
10.91jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Time on the road

About 24 minutes each way, quicker than most of New Jersey

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

A year of commuting
187 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Rainbow Lakes24 min
New Jersey31 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
24%

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

About 2 in 10
The jobs

Rainbow Lakes makes things: 29% of its jobs are in goods

7,149 jobs are based in Rainbow Lakes. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rainbow Lakes’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Rainbow LakesJobs Rainbow Lakes residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms29%10%
Trade, transport & utilities17%19%
Services: health, schools, offices55%71%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less2%11%
$1,251–$3,333 a month6%14%
Over $3,333 a month92%76%

Who does it

29 or younger14%16%
30 to 5458%59%
55 and older28%25%
+22%

Jobs based in Rainbow Lakes, 2013 → 2023: 5,837 → 7,149. 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

13% of Rainbow Lakes works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Parsippany-Troy Hills (13%). Darker towns draw more of Rainbow Lakes’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Rainbow Lakes24 min
Parsippany28 min
Parsippany-Troy Hills28 min
Mountain Lakes34 min
The commute map

Where Rainbow Lakes’s workers come from

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

Hoboken: 88 workers live here (1%)Mountain LakesMorristownFlorham ParkClifton: 101 workers live here (1%)Jersey City: 158 workers live here (2%)NewarkNew York: 210 workers live here (3%)Wayne: 115 workers live here (2%)Denville: 93 workers live here (1%)Mount Olive: 105 workers live here (1%)Bridgewater: 96 workers live here (1%)Rockaway: 115 workers live here (2%)LivingstonHanoverParsippany-Troy Hills: 340 workers live here (5%)Rainbow LakesParsippanyParsippany-Troy HillsNew YorkJersey CityWayneRockawayMount OliveRainbow Lakes
15%340
2
New York, NY30.7 mi away
3%210
3
Jersey City23.3 mi away
2%158
4
Wayne12.1 mi away
2%115
5
Rockaway6.3 mi away
2%115
6
Mount Olive15 mi away
1%105
7
Clifton15.5 mi away
1%101
8
Bridgewater21 mi away
1%96
9
Denville2 mi away
1%93
10
Hoboken24.1 mi away
1%88
Everywhere elseother towns and states
80%5,728
The top trips

Where Rainbow Lakes clocks in

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

How far

Half of Rainbow Lakes commutes less than 14 miles

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

10 mi25 mi35 miParsippany-Troy Hills: 13% · 2 miNew York: 6% · 30.7 miMorristown: 4% · 5.5 miNewark: 3% · 18.1 miHanover: 3% · 4 miWayne: 2% · 12.1 miDenville: 2% · 2 miJersey City: 2% · 23.3 miLivingston: 2% · 9 miFlorham Park: 2% · 7.5 miNew York 6%Morristown 4%Newark 3%Hanover 3%Rainbow Lakes
Rainbow LakesTop destinations (size = commuters)
41%Under 10 mi269 residents
41%10–24 mi270 residents
13%25–50 mi84 residents
5%Over 50 mi32 residents

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

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 Rainbow Lakes

Rainbow Lakes home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Rainbow Lakes, 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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