Photo: AEMoreira042281 · CC BY-SA 3.0Dunellen has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
For jobs and income Dunellen is better than 52% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (A). 892 jobs are based in Dunellen, and 3,143 of its residents work somewhere. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 43.7 in Jersey City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Dunellen
How Dunellen earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Dunellen’s grade up (ahead of 96% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (22.6%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dunellen could be anywhere from C− to A.
6% of working residents work in Piscataway Township
Where Dunellen clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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.
Dunellen by day and by night
On a workday 2,995 residents head out to work, 148 work right here, and 744 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,100 people are in Dunellen on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What Dunellen’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dunellen, 2013 → 2023: 803 → 892. 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 Dunellen’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Dunellen: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dunellen workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,580 commuters (the 10% 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.
Dunellen’s commute, mile by mile
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.
In Dunellen, walking beats the bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 13.2% across New Jersey.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,968 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 79% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 91% 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). 5.6% of Dunellen households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Dunellen’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,727th of 3,042: where Dunellen ranks among U.S. towns of 5,800 to 11,300
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Waldwick NJ | 10,252 | $178K | 1.4% | 2.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,725 | Thousand Palms CA | 7,720 | $77K | 9.2% | 5.2% | 7% | B− |
| 1,726 | Glenwood Springs CO | 10,395 | $91K | 7.9% | 4.5% | 35% | B− |
| 1,727 | Dunellen NJ | 8,337 | $87K | 22.6% | 5.5% | 5% | B− |
| 1,728 | Georgetown GA | 11,158 | $74K | 10.8% | 4.7% | 4% | B− |
| 1,729 | Fruitland ID | 7,213 | $65K | 8.8% | 1.8% | 18% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,042 | 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 Dunellen, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Work in the towns next to Dunellen
The biggest share goes to Piscataway Township (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dunellen workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunellen | – | B− | A | 32 min | $86,967 |
| Green Brook Township | under 3% | A | A | 30 min | $208,375 |
| Middlesex | 3% | A− | A− | 26 min | $105,000 |
| Piscataway Township | 6% | A− | A | 26 min | $127,832 |
| Plainfield | under 3% | B− | A+ | 30 min | $85,908 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Dunellen’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 Dunellen: questions
What is the median household income in Dunellen?
$86,967 (±$31,113) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dunellen?
22.6%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dunellen?
32 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dunellen work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Piscataway Township (6%, 3 mi), New York City (5%, 28 mi), Edison Township (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dunellen walkable?
Dunellen is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dunellen without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 79% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dunellen, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dunellen
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.