With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Fords works elsewhere
Only 2% stay in Fords for work; outside it, Woodbridge Township is the main destination (13%, 2 miles). 1,599 jobs are based in Fords; 6,313 of its residents have a job. At 31 minutes each way, commutes from Fords run about the New Jersey average.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Fords at work: what stands out
Fords by day and by night
On a workday 6,211 residents head out to work, 102 work right here, and 1,497 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,100 people are in Fords on a workday afternoon, 37% 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.
Commuting out of Fords: the destinations
Where Fords clocks in
13% of workers
9% of workers
8% 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.
What Fords’ employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fords, 2013 → 2023: 1,365 → 1,599. 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 Fords’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Fords: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fords workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,837 commuters (the 13% 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 Fords 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.
Next door to Fords
The biggest share goes to Edison Township (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fords workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fords | – | — | — | 31 min | $115,861 |
| Keasbey | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Edison Township | 9% | A− | A+ | 34 min | $125,145 |
| Hopelawn | under 2% | — | — | 46 min | — |
| Menlo Park Terrace | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Keasbey, Hopelawn and Menlo Park Terrace: 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 Fords’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 Fords: questions
What is the median household income in Fords?
$115,861 (±$10,191) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fords?
6.4%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fords?
31 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fords work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Woodbridge Township (13%, 2 mi), Edison Township (9%, 3 mi), New York City (8%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Fords without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fords, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fords
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.