Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Lafayette Township have higher incomes than those in 91% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Lafayette Township A−; getting around on foot earns it C+. The poverty rate is 5.4%, where New Jersey as a whole has 9.7%. Only 5% stay in Lafayette Township for work; outside it, Sparta Township is the main destination (6%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Lafayette Township, in brief
Jobs & income in Lafayette Township: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lafayette Township is better than 84% of U.S. towns. Household income is its strongest input ($129,038, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 56% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lafayette Township could be anywhere from B to A+.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,125 residents head out to work, 61 work right here, and 967 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 (0.87 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 places Lafayette Township commutes to
Where Lafayette Township clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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 kinds of work in Lafayette Township
1,028 jobs are based in Lafayette Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lafayette Township, 2013 → 2023: 1,152 → 1,028. 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 Lafayette Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 33 minutes to work from Lafayette Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lafayette Township workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,100 commuters (the 11% 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.
Lafayette Township’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Most of Lafayette Township commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lafayette Township is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 13.2% across New Jersey.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,237 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.1% of Lafayette Township households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lafayette Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lafayette Township places 603rd of 5,207 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Alpine NJ | 1,759 | $247K | 6.2% | 6.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Sea Girt NJ | 1,874 | $214K | 3.3% | 4.5% | 4% | A+ |
| 59 | Spring Lake NJ | 2,769 | $216K | 1.0% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 601 | Orchard Lake Village MI | 2,214 | $207K | 8.6% | 4.2% | 5% | A− |
| 602 | Berry Hill TN | 1,864 | $80K | 11.2% | 3.1% | 5% | A− |
| 603 | Lafayette Township NJ | 2,417 | $129K | 5.4% | 3.2% | 5% | A− |
| 604 | Harris Township OH | 2,864 | $89K | 7.6% | 0.0% | 7% | A− |
| 605 | Spring Lake MI | 2,504 | $88K | 7.3% | 1.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Lafayette Township, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
11% of Lafayette Township works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lafayette Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette Township | – | A− | C+ | 33 min | $129,038 |
| Hampton Township | 3% | B | C+ | 31 min | $109,676 |
| Hardyston Township | under 2% | B+ | C+ | 40 min | $120,392 |
| Sparta Township | 6% | A− | B | 38 min | $167,963 |
| Frankford Township | 2% | B+ | C | 32 min | $117,286 |
| Andover Township | under 2% | A | B− | 36 min | $142,225 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Sparta Township. Darker towns draw more of Lafayette 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 Lafayette Township: questions
What is the median household income in Lafayette Township?
$129,038 (±$25,455) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lafayette Township?
5.4%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lafayette Township?
33 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lafayette Township work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sparta Township (6%, 5 mi), Newton (5%, 6 mi), New York City (3%, 50 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lafayette Township walkable?
Lafayette Township is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lafayette Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lafayette Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lafayette 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.