Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0More people are out of work in Elizabeth (7.7%) than in 87% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 6% of workers; New Jersey has 17%. Elizabeth grades C+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 8.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 43.7 in Jersey City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Elizabeth, in brief
Elizabeth trades workers with the towns around it
Elizabeth has about as many jobs (47,343) as working residents (49,106), but they are mostly different people: 39,935 residents leave for work each day while 38,172 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Elizabeth are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
45% of the jobs in Elizabeth are in trade, transport and utilities, against 31% of the jobs its residents hold. 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.
Why Elizabeth gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elizabeth is better than 41% of U.S. towns, #425 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car holds Elizabeth’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elizabeth could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
Elizabeth on a workday afternoon
On a workday 39,935 residents head out to work, 9,171 work right here, and 38,172 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.96 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.
65% of the jobs in Elizabeth pay over $3,333 a month
47,343 jobs are based in Elizabeth.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elizabeth, 2013 → 2023: 46,136 → 47,343. 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 Elizabeth’s own residents hold wherever they work.
10% of working residents work in Newark
Where Elizabeth clocks in
10% of workers
8% 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.
How long Elizabeth spends getting to work: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elizabeth workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 60,046 commuters (the 6% 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 distance from Elizabeth to work
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: Elizabeth
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elizabeth is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #96 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Elizabeth 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 64,072 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 82% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 58% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 8.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 92% 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). 20.6% of Elizabeth households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 12% of Elizabeth’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Ranked on jobs and income, Elizabeth is 188th among 259 U.S. towns of 99,000 to 191,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 2 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Fishers IN | 104,812 | $130K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Edison Township NJ | 109,077 | $125K | 4.7% | 6.2% | 15% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Woodbridge Township NJ | 104,802 | $109K | 8.4% | 4.9% | 13% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | Toms River Township NJ | 100,899 | $100K | 5.8% | 4.3% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | High Point NC | 120,571 | $65K | 15.7% | 5.2% | 23% | C+ |
| 187 | Kansas City KS | 157,805 | $62K | 16.0% | 5.8% | 30% | C+ |
| 188 | Elizabeth NJ | 141,675 | $67K | 15.7% | 7.7% | 19% | C+ |
| 189 | Newport News VA | 183,230 | $70K | 14.5% | 5.8% | 40% | C+ |
| 190 | Odessa TX | 122,707 | $73K | 16.2% | 5.9% | 43% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 259 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Elizabeth, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Elizabeth and its neighbors: 24% work next door
The biggest share goes to Newark (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Elizabeth workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth | – | C+ | A+ | 27 min | $66,555 |
| Union Township | 3% | A− | A+ | 30 min | $119,464 |
| Newark | 10% | C− | A+ | 33 min | $52,060 |
| Bayonne | under 2% | B | A+ | 34 min | $83,887 |
| Linden | 3% | B | A+ | 32 min | $92,915 |
| Hillside Township | under 2% | B | A+ | 30 min | $99,528 |
| Roselle Park | under 2% | A− | A+ | 26 min | $109,679 |
| Kean University | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Roselle | under 2% | B | A+ | 33 min | $92,762 |
Same-state neighbors only. Kean University: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Elizabeth’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 Elizabeth: questions
What is the median household income in Elizabeth?
$66,555 (±$3,270) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elizabeth?
15.7%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elizabeth?
27 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elizabeth work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Newark (10%, 4 mi), New York City (8%, 13 mi), Edison Township (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elizabeth walkable?
Elizabeth is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.7 out of 20, and 17% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elizabeth without a car?
12% of commuters take transit and 21% of households have no car. 58% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elizabeth, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elizabeth
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.