Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY 3.0How Dayton works: jobs, income and commuting
Commuters spend 34 minutes getting to work on average; the New Jersey average is 31, the U.S. 26. Only 2% work in Dayton itself; outside it, South Brunswick Township draws the most (11%, 1 miles). Employers in Dayton report 2,562 jobs for 4,174 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Dayton: the figures worth knowing
Dayton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Dayton is New York City, NY, 36 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (330) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
No single place dominates Dayton’s commute
The biggest draw, New York City, NY, gets only 8% of working residents, and 55% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Dayton residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
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.
How many miles Dayton commutes
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.
Commuting out of Dayton: the destinations
Where Dayton clocks in
11% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Dayton
On a workday 4,085 residents head out to work, 89 work right here, and 2,473 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,300 people are in Dayton on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.61 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
71% of the jobs in Dayton pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dayton, 2013 → 2023: 2,122 → 2,562. 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 Dayton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Dayton’s commute takes about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dayton workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,314 commuters (the 22% 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.
The towns around Dayton
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dayton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dayton | – | — | — | 34 min | $151,902 |
| Monmouth Junction | under 3% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Deans | under 3% | — | — | 44 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Monmouth Junction and Deans: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Dayton’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 Dayton: questions
What is the median household income in Dayton?
$151,902 (±$18,003) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dayton?
2.5%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dayton?
34 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dayton work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are South Brunswick Township (11%, 1 mi), New York City (8%, 36 mi), Edison Township (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Dayton without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dayton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dayton
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.