Work & commute · South Plainfield

Work & commute in South Plainfield, NJ

Most working residents leave South Plainfield for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are New York (8%), Edison (7%) and Piscataway (4%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

1,299 of 13,121 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 11,822 South Plainfield residents head out of town to work, 1,299 work right here, and 18,423 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in South Plainfield.

11,822live here, work elsewhere

1,299live and work here

18,423work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where South Plainfield goes to work

South Plainfield (in town)right here

10%1,299

New York, NY25.7 mi away

8%1,092

Edison5.9 mi away

7%946

Piscataway3.1 mi away

4%494

Woodbridge6.5 mi away

3%455

New Brunswick6.3 mi away

3%411

Franklin9.8 mi away

3%393

Jersey City20.6 mi away

2%309

Newark16.4 mi away

2%304

Bridgewater10 mi away

2%278

Everywhere elseother towns and states

54%7,140

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

How far

How far South Plainfield commutes

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

50%

30%

16%

50%Under 10 mi

30%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

South Plainfield is a job hub

1.50jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in South Plainfield are

19,722 jobs are based in South Plainfield. Here is what they are, next to the jobs South Plainfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in South Plainfield

19,722 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities32%

Services (health, schools, offices…)46%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs South Plainfield residents hold

13,121 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month70%

−3%

Jobs based in South Plainfield, 2013 → 2023: 20,308 → 19,722. 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.