Photo: Skarwowski · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Hillside Township (7.6%) than in 86% of U.S. towns
Hillside Township 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. Household incomes here are higher than in 76% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Hillside Township: the figures worth knowing
The four measures behind Hillside Township’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hillside Township is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #342 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car holds Hillside Township’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); 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, Hillside Township could be anywhere from B− to A−.
What Hillside Township’s employers do
7,081 jobs are based in Hillside Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hillside Township, 2013 → 2023: 7,922 → 7,081. 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 Hillside Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Hillside Township, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 9,899 residents head out to work, 527 work right here, and 6,554 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Hillside Township on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.68 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
14% of working residents work in Newark
Where Hillside Township clocks in
14% of workers
10% 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.
Hillside Township’s commute takes about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hillside Township workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,519 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.
Half of Hillside Township commutes less than 10 miles
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.
Hillside Township is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hillside Township is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #55 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Hillside Township 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 11,503 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, 39% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 14.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 10.5% of Hillside Township households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 14% of Hillside Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hillside Township is 917th of 1,712 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 31,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Scotch Plains Township NJ | 25,437 | $184K | 2.5% | 3.2% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Cranford Township NJ | 24,725 | $156K | 2.5% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Ridgewood NJ | 26,527 | $208K | 4.2% | 3.4% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 915 | Brandon MS | 26,122 | $93K | 8.5% | 5.2% | 10% | B |
| 916 | Kernersville NC | 29,128 | $72K | 12.6% | 2.7% | 12% | B |
| 917 | Hillside Township NJ | 22,860 | $100K | 10.7% | 7.6% | 5% | B |
| 918 | Galt CA | 26,964 | $94K | 8.0% | 6.1% | 12% | B |
| 919 | Homewood IL | 18,773 | $100K | 9.4% | 8.1% | 7% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,712 | 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 Hillside Township, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Hillside Township and its neighbors: 22% work next door
The biggest share goes to Newark (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hillside Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillside Township | – | B | A+ | 30 min | $99,528 |
| Union Township | 3% | A− | A+ | 30 min | $119,464 |
| Kean University | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Elizabeth | 5% | C+ | A+ | 27 min | $66,555 |
| Newark | 14% | C− | A+ | 33 min | $52,060 |
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 Hillside Township’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 Hillside Township: questions
What is the median household income in Hillside Township?
$99,528 (±$8,370) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hillside Township?
10.7%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hillside Township?
30 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 Hillside Township work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Newark (14%, 4 mi), New York City (10%, 15 mi), Elizabeth (5%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hillside Township walkable?
Hillside Township is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.9 out of 20, and 18% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hillside Township without a car?
14% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 39% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hillside Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hillside Township
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.