Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Hightstown’s household incomes are higher than in 83% of U.S. towns
Hightstown grades A for jobs and income and A for walkability. The poverty rate is 2.1%; New Jersey has 9.7%. About one in ten work in Hightstown; the top destination outside it is New York City (6%, 41 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Hightstown stands out on work
Hightstown trades workers with the towns around it
Hightstown has about as many jobs (2,348) as working residents (2,657), but they are mostly different people: 2,409 residents leave for work each day while 2,100 people come in. Only 11% of the jobs in Hightstown are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Hightstown’s commute
The biggest draw, New York City, NY, gets only 6% of working residents, and 54% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Hightstown residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Hightstown are quick
The average trip to work takes 24 minutes, against 31 across New Jersey. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Jersey worker. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in Hightstown is services
87% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 6% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Hightstown’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hightstown is better than 90% of U.S. towns, #120 of 468 in New Jersey. The poverty rate holds Hightstown’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hightstown could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
How a workday changes Hightstown
On a workday 2,409 residents head out to work, 248 work right here, and 2,100 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 (0.88 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.
The towns that employ Hightstown’s residents
Where Hightstown clocks in
6% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
About 24 minutes to work from Hightstown
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hightstown workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,998 commuters (the 12% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
2,348 jobs are based in Hightstown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hightstown, 2013 → 2023: 2,376 → 2,348. 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 Hightstown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Hightstown
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Hightstown
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hightstown is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #236 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Hightstown 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 3,396 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 6.1% of Hightstown households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Hightstown’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Hightstown ranks: 402nd of 3,394 U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,100
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 400 | Jackson Township PA | 4,568 | $122K | 4.0% | 1.7% | 1% | A |
| 401 | Strawberry CA | 5,830 | $158K | 7.0% | 3.0% | 4% | A |
| 402 | Hightstown NJ | 6,007 | $109K | 2.1% | 4.5% | 9% | A |
| 403 | Clarks Summit PA | 5,069 | $92K | 4.6% | 1.0% | 7% | A |
| 404 | Van Buren Township IN | 4,320 | $100K | 0.6% | 2.2% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,394 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Hightstown, 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 Hightstown: questions
What is the median household income in Hightstown?
$108,987 (±$15,365) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hightstown?
2.1%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hightstown?
24 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hightstown work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (6%, 41 mi), South Brunswick Township (5%, 8 mi), East Windsor Township (5%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hightstown walkable?
Hightstown is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.1 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hightstown without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hightstown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hightstown
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.