Work & commute · Rockaway

Work & commute in Rockaway, NJ

Most working residents leave Rockaway for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Parsippany-Troy Hills (6%), Rockaway (5%) and Denville (5%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

165 of 3,455 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

18%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,290 Rockaway residents head out of town to work, 165 work right here, and 2,953 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Rockaway.

3,290live here, work elsewhere

165live and work here

2,953work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Rockaway goes to work

Parsippany-Troy Hills5.5 mi away

6%206

Rockaway4.5 mi away

5%174

Denville1.6 mi away

5%168

Rockaway (in town)right here

5%165

Morristown7.2 mi away

5%158

New York, NY34.3 mi away

4%150

Dover2.3 mi away

3%114

Hanover7 mi away

2%82

Newark21.6 mi away

2%74

Randolph4.9 mi away

2%67

Everywhere elseother towns and states

61%2,097

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

How far

How far Rockaway commutes

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

42%

36%

16%

42%Under 10 mi

36%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Rockaway is balanced between jobs and homes

0.90jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.90 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Rockaway are

3,118 jobs are based in Rockaway. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rockaway’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Rockaway

3,118 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Rockaway residents hold

3,455 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month69%

−18%

Jobs based in Rockaway, 2013 → 2023: 3,788 → 3,118. 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.