Work & commute · Scotch Plains

Work & commute in Scotch Plains, NJ

Most working residents leave Scotch Plains for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are New York (15%), Newark (4%) and Edison (3%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

811 of 12,019 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

34 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

26%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 11,208 Scotch Plains residents head out of town to work, 811 work right here, and 4,695 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Scotch Plains.

11,208live here, work elsewhere

811live and work here

4,695work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Scotch Plains goes to work

New York, NY22.9 mi away

15%1,748

Scotch Plains (in town)right here

7%811

Newark12.2 mi away

4%488

Edison9 mi away

3%359

Elizabeth9.7 mi away

3%321

Westfield2 mi away

2%298

Jersey City17 mi away

2%265

Woodbridge6.5 mi away

2%262

Rahway5.2 mi away

2%223

Union6.9 mi away

2%207

Everywhere elseother towns and states

59%7,037

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

How far

How far Scotch Plains commutes

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

43%

46%

43%Under 10 mi

46%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Scotch Plains is a commuter town

0.46jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.46 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Scotch Plains are

5,506 jobs are based in Scotch Plains. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Scotch Plains’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Scotch Plains

5,506 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities6%

Services (health, schools, offices…)87%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Scotch Plains residents hold

12,019 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month76%

+5%

Jobs based in Scotch Plains, 2013 → 2023: 5,268 → 5,506. 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.