Photo: Princewill121 · CC BY-SA 4.0Garfield has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
5,865 jobs are based in Garfield for 13,850 working residents. Garfield grades B− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 8.1 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
Work in Garfield, in a few figures
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Garfield
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Garfield is better than 54% of U.S. towns, #389 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car holds Garfield’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Garfield could be anywhere from B− to B+.
12% of working residents work in New York City
Where Garfield clocks in
12% of workers
4% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Garfield
On a workday 12,941 residents head out to work, 909 work right here, and 4,956 people come in from elsewhere.
About 25,000 people are in Garfield on a workday afternoon, 24% 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.
The kinds of work in Garfield
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garfield, 2013 → 2023: 5,195 → 5,865. 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 Garfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Garfield: about 28 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garfield workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,471 commuters (the 7% 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.
How far Garfield’s workers travel
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.
Garfield is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Garfield is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #66 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Garfield 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 16,585 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, 80% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 8.1 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). 10.0% of Garfield households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Garfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Garfield is 857th of 1,315 U.S. towns of 23,000 to 45,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Scotch Plains Township NJ | 25,437 | $184K | 2.5% | 3.2% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Westfield NJ | 32,595 | $233K | 1.8% | 3.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Cranford Township NJ | 24,725 | $156K | 2.5% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 855 | McDonough GA | 33,395 | $75K | 10.6% | 5.5% | 7% | B− |
| 856 | Garden City KS | 27,402 | $73K | 11.0% | 2.7% | 45% | B− |
| 857 | Garfield NJ | 33,353 | $80K | 13.4% | 6.7% | 7% | B− |
| 858 | Sahuarita AZ | 37,694 | $105K | 8.6% | 6.4% | 11% | B− |
| 859 | Ives Estates FL | 28,506 | $72K | 11.9% | 5.8% | 2% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,315 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Garfield, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
How Garfield compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Clifton (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Garfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garfield | – | B− | A+ | 28 min | $79,700 |
| Wallington | under 2% | B− | A+ | 29 min | $85,862 |
| Lodi | under 2% | B− | A+ | 26 min | $89,305 |
| Clifton | 4% | B+ | A+ | 28 min | $98,237 |
| South Hackensack Township | under 2% | B | A+ | 21 min | $84,527 |
| Passaic | 2% | C | A+ | 25 min | $55,371 |
| Saddle Brook Township | under 2% | A | A+ | 24 min | $129,073 |
| Elmwood Park | 2% | B | A+ | 27 min | $101,740 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Garfield’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 Garfield: questions
What is the median household income in Garfield?
$79,700 (±$4,632) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garfield?
13.4%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garfield?
28 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Garfield work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (12%, 17 mi), Clifton (4%, 3 mi), Hackensack (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Garfield walkable?
Garfield is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.6 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Garfield without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 80% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Garfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garfield
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.