Photo: KForce at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Freehold (8.2%) than in 89% of U.S. towns
Freehold grades B− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. 9% of workers have no commute at all, next to 17% for New Jersey as a whole. Only 7% stay in Freehold for work; outside it, Freehold Township is the main destination (9%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Freehold, in a few figures
Freehold has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Freehold went from 4,065 in 2013 to 7,789 in 2023, +92%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Freehold are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 31 across New Jersey. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Jersey worker. Time on the road ↓
Freehold draws workers from far and wide
The 7,789 jobs in Freehold are filled from a wide area. Freehold’s own residents hold 5% and the ten next-biggest home towns 37%; the other 58% come from many towns beyond those. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Freehold’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Freehold is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #411 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car holds Freehold’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Freehold could be anywhere from C to B+.
What work there is in Freehold: 7,789 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Freehold, 2013 → 2023: 4,065 → 7,789. 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 Freehold’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes each way for Freehold’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Freehold workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,314 commuters (the 9% 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.
Where Freehold goes to work
Where Freehold clocks in
9% of workers
9% of workers
3% 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 daily flow of workers through Freehold
On a workday 5,380 residents head out to work, 398 work right here, and 7,391 people come in from elsewhere.
About 15,000 people are in Freehold on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 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.
How far Freehold goes 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.
Freehold is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,855 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, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 10.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% 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). 19.0% of Freehold households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Freehold’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Freehold is 1,497th among 2,354 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Waldwick NJ | 10,252 | $178K | 1.4% | 2.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Franklin Lakes NJ | 11,180 | $236K | 3.4% | 2.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Hanover Township NJ | 15,105 | $157K | 3.2% | 2.6% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,495 | Ulster NY | 12,646 | $80K | 11.6% | 4.6% | 14% | B− |
| 1,496 | Crestwood IL | 10,529 | $76K | 13.0% | 8.2% | 5% | B− |
| 1,497 | Freehold NJ | 12,562 | $86K | 14.3% | 8.2% | 7% | B− |
| 1,498 | Hubbard Township OH | 12,772 | $57K | 9.9% | 4.2% | 13% | B− |
| 1,499 | Chestnuthill Township PA | 16,555 | $90K | 6.9% | 6.8% | 11% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Freehold, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
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 Freehold: questions
What is the median household income in Freehold?
$85,707 (±$17,460) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Freehold?
14.3%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Freehold?
23 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Freehold work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Freehold Township (9%, 3 mi), New York City (9%, 33 mi), Manalapan Township (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Freehold walkable?
Freehold is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.5 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Freehold without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 19% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Freehold, from the people who make the trip.
More of Freehold
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.