Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Few U.S. towns have household incomes as high as Bernardsville’s
Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. Poverty touches 1.1% of residents, next to 9.7% for New Jersey as a whole. The two grades for Bernardsville are A+ for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Bernardsville: the gist
No single place dominates Bernardsville’s commute
The biggest draw, New York City, NY, gets only 7% of working residents, and 63% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Bernardsville residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Bernardsville
28% of Bernardsville workers work from home, against 17% across New Jersey. Time on the road ↓
Three in four Bernardsville workers earn over $40,000 a year
76% of Bernardsville’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Bernardsville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bernardsville is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #56 of 468 in New Jersey. Household income holds Bernardsville’s grade up ($236,115, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bernardsville could be anywhere from A to A+.
7% of working residents work in New York City
Where Bernardsville clocks in
7% of workers
4% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
About 28 minutes each way, quicker than most of New Jersey
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bernardsville workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,956 commuters (the 28% who work from home are left out). Across New Jersey: 75% drive alone, 10% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
What work there is in Bernardsville: 2,717 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bernardsville, 2013 → 2023: 2,578 → 2,717. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bernardsville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Bernardsville on a workday
On a workday 3,254 residents head out to work, 287 work right here, and 2,430 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,100 people are in Bernardsville on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How far Bernardsville’s workers travel
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Good to walk, short on transit: Bernardsville
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bernardsville is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #211 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Bernardsville near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,089 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 33% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 64% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.1% of Bernardsville households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Bernardsville’s commuters take a bus or train.
184th of 3,015: where Bernardsville ranks among U.S. towns of 5,600 to 10,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 4 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Hainesport Township NJ | 6,197 | $143K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Waldwick NJ | 10,252 | $178K | 1.4% | 2.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 182 | Oakbrook KY | 10,211 | $95K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 183 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 184 | Bernardsville NJ | 7,966 | $236K | 1.1% | 4.3% | 8% | A+ |
| 185 | Scituate RI | 10,767 | $112K | 5.0% | 1.0% | 6% | A+ |
| 186 | Bondurant IA | 9,647 | $136K | 6.2% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,015 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Bernardsville, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Bernardsville and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Bernards Township (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bernardsville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernardsville | – | A+ | A | 28 min | $236,115 |
| Bernards Township | 4% | A | B+ | 33 min | $194,107 |
| Basking Ridge | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Mendham Township | under 2% | A+ | B+ | 44 min | $250,000+ |
| Peapack and Gladstone | under 2% | A+ | A | 27 min | $202,578 |
| Harding Township | under 2% | A+ | A− | 32 min | $222,429 |
| Far Hills | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Basking Ridge: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Far Hills: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bernardsville’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Bernardsville: questions
What is the median household income in Bernardsville?
$236,115 (±$32,313) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bernardsville?
1.1%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bernardsville?
28 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bernardsville work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (7%, 35 mi), Bernards Township (4%, 4 mi), Morristown (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bernardsville walkable?
Bernardsville is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.7 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bernardsville without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bernardsville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bernardsville
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.