Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 4.0Demarest ranks among the highest-earning U.S. towns by household income
Demarest grades A for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. 1.1% of residents are in poverty, where New Jersey as a whole has 9.7%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Demarest, in brief
Demarest workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 43 minutes each way, against 31 across New Jersey. Over a year that’s about 330 hours of commuting, 92 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (32 to 37 minutes). Time on the road ↓
A lot of Demarest workers cross into New York
27% of Demarest workers work outside New Jersey, most of them in New York, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
One in three of Demarest works in New York City
772 working residents, 34%, have their main job in New York City, NY, 20 miles away. That’s 11 times as many as work in Demarest itself. The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Demarest
26% of Demarest workers work from home, against 17% across New Jersey. Time on the road ↓
Three in four Demarest workers earn over $40,000 a year
76% of Demarest’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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Demarest
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Demarest is better than 90% of U.S. towns, #117 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car holds Demarest’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (7.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Demarest could be anywhere from A− to A+.
A commute of about 43 minutes in Demarest
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Demarest workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,581 commuters (the 26% 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.
34% of working residents work in New York City
Where Demarest clocks in
34% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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.
Demarest is a services town
875 jobs are based in Demarest.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Demarest, 2013 → 2023: 680 → 875. 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 Demarest’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Demarest: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,235 residents head out to work, 63 work right here, and 812 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,500 people are in Demarest on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
0.38 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Demarest
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Demarest
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Demarest is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #327 of 468 in New Jersey. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 13.2% across New Jersey, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,131 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 1.7% of Demarest households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 9% of Demarest’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,600, Demarest ranks 417th of 3,840 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| 6 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Hainesport Township NJ | 6,197 | $143K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 415 | Temple GA | 6,564 | $91K | 2.6% | 1.0% | 4% | A |
| 416 | Hurstbourne KY | 4,787 | $116K | 5.5% | 3.6% | 3% | A |
| 417 | Demarest NJ | 4,893 | $208K | 1.1% | 7.1% | 3% | A |
| 418 | New Freedom PA | 5,116 | $120K | 3.9% | 1.9% | 3% | A |
| 419 | Summit Township IL | 3,723 | $111K | 2.7% | 0.1% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,840 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Demarest, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Work in the towns next to Demarest
The biggest share goes to Closter (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Demarest workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demarest | – | A | A− | 43 min | $208,036 |
| Cresskill | under 2% | A | A+ | 37 min | $170,376 |
| Closter | 2% | A | A | 33 min | $190,469 |
| Alpine | under 2% | A+ | B+ | 32 min | $246,944 |
| Haworth | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 35 min | $236,765 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Demarest’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 Demarest: questions
What is the median household income in Demarest?
$208,036 (±$55,973) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Demarest?
1.1%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Demarest?
43 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Demarest work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (34%, 20 mi), Englewood (4%, 4 mi), Fort Lee (2%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Demarest walkable?
Demarest is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Demarest without a car?
9% 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 Demarest, from the people who make the trip.
More of Demarest
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.