Work & commute · Somerville

Work & commute in Somerville, NJ

Most working residents leave Somerville for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Bridgewater (8%), Franklin (4%) and New Brunswick (4%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

437 of 6,672 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

17%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,235 Somerville residents head out of town to work, 437 work right here, and 6,700 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Somerville.

6,235live here, work elsewhere

437live and work here

6,700work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Somerville goes to work

Bridgewater1.6 mi away

8%556

Somerville (in town)right here

7%437

Franklin7.1 mi away

4%257

New Brunswick10.3 mi away

4%253

New York, NY35.7 mi away

4%251

Branchburg5.7 mi away

4%238

Hillsborough6 mi away

3%226

Edison14.3 mi away

3%201

Bernards7.7 mi away

2%157

Piscataway7.9 mi away

2%155

Everywhere elseother towns and states

59%3,941

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

How far

How far Somerville commutes

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

42%

36%

18%

42%Under 10 mi

36%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Somerville is balanced between jobs and homes

1.07jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.07 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Somerville are

7,137 jobs are based in Somerville. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Somerville’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Somerville

7,137 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)83%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Somerville residents hold

6,672 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month71%

+5%

Jobs based in Somerville, 2013 → 2023: 6,768 → 7,137. 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.