Photo: Hudconja · CC BY-SA 3.0At 6.6%, unemployment in Kearny is higher than in 79% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 6% of workers; New Jersey has 17%. The two grades for Kearny are B for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 43.7 in Jersey City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Kearny
Kearny trades workers with the towns around it
Kearny has about as many jobs (15,675) as working residents (18,176), but they are mostly different people: 16,529 residents leave for work each day while 14,028 people come in. Only 11% of the jobs in Kearny are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Kearny’s working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 33 minutes, longer than the New Jersey average of 31. Time on the road ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
45% of the jobs in Kearny are in trade, transport and utilities, against 25% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Kearny draws workers from far and wide
The 15,675 jobs in Kearny are filled from a wide area. Kearny’s own residents hold 11% and the ten next-biggest home towns 32%; the other 57% 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.
Kearny’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kearny is better than 55% of U.S. towns, #380 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car holds Kearny’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, Kearny could be anywhere from B− to B+.
A workday in Kearny: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 16,529 residents head out to work, 1,647 work right here, and 14,028 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 (0.86 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.
Time on the road from Kearny: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kearny workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 19,233 commuters (the 6% 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.
What work there is in Kearny: 15,675 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kearny, 2013 → 2023: 12,290 → 15,675. 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 Kearny’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Out of Kearny to work: where people go
Where Kearny clocks in
17% 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.
Miles to work from Kearny
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Kearny
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kearny is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #35 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Kearny 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 20,438 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 99% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 83% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 14.6% of Kearny households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 13% of Kearny’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Kearny ranks: 660th of 1,019 U.S. towns of 29,000 to 55,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Westfield NJ | 32,595 | $233K | 1.8% | 3.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Livingston Township NJ | 32,223 | $230K | 2.3% | 4.3% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Marlboro Township NJ | 42,254 | $186K | 3.5% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 658 | Plant City FL | 44,118 | $67K | 15.0% | 2.9% | 15% | B |
| 659 | Florissant MO | 51,124 | $65K | 10.1% | 5.1% | 6% | B |
| 660 | Kearny NJ | 40,862 | $79K | 12.5% | 6.6% | 9% | B |
| 661 | Wea Township IN | 34,791 | $69K | 12.8% | 2.9% | 9% | B |
| 662 | Duncanville TX | 38,915 | $76K | 10.6% | 7.1% | 6% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,019 | 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 Kearny, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
The towns next door employ 20% of Kearny
The biggest share goes to Newark (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kearny workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kearny | – | B | A+ | 33 min | $79,154 |
| Lyndhurst Township | under 2% | A− | A+ | 29 min | $111,711 |
| North Arlington | 1% | A− | A+ | 32 min | $94,201 |
| Newark | 10% | C− | A+ | 33 min | $52,060 |
| Jersey City | 5% | B | A+ | 37 min | $97,710 |
| Harrison | 2% | B+ | A+ | 41 min | $93,013 |
| Secaucus | 2% | A | A+ | 33 min | $139,821 |
| East Newark | under 2% | C− | A+ | 34 min | $48,646 |
| Belleville Township | under 2% | B | A+ | 32 min | $90,140 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kearny’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 Kearny: questions
What is the median household income in Kearny?
$79,154 (±$5,962) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kearny?
12.5%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kearny?
33 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kearny work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (17%, 12 mi), Newark (10%, 3 mi), Jersey City (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kearny walkable?
Kearny is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.2 out of 20, and 20% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kearny without a car?
13% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. 83% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kearny, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kearny
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.