United States Post Office · Photo: KForce · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Metuchen earn more than those in 96% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 43.7 in Jersey City. 3.6% of residents live below the poverty line, where New Jersey as a whole has 9.7%. For jobs and income Metuchen is better than 90% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is among the most walkable U.S. towns (A+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Metuchen apart on work
The better-paid jobs are outside Metuchen
75% of Metuchen residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 51% of the jobs based in Metuchen pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Metuchen workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 38 minutes each way, against 31 across New Jersey. Over a year that’s about 291 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Metuchen works from home
27% of Metuchen workers work from home, against 17% across New Jersey. Time on the road ↓
Metuchen’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Metuchen is New York City, NY, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (658) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Metuchen draws workers from far and wide
The 5,379 jobs in Metuchen are filled from a wide area. Metuchen’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 34%; the other 58% 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.
Why Metuchen gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Job access by car holds Metuchen’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Metuchen could be anywhere from A− to A+.
What Metuchen’s employers do
5,379 jobs are based in Metuchen.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Metuchen, 2013 → 2023: 5,535 → 5,379. 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 Metuchen’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 38 minutes each way for Metuchen’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Metuchen workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,540 commuters (the 27% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Metuchen
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.
10% of working residents work in New York City
Where Metuchen clocks in
10% 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.
Who commutes out of Metuchen, and who commutes in
On a workday 6,123 residents head out to work, 414 work right here, and 4,965 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 (0.82 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.
Metuchen is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Metuchen is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #44 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Metuchen 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 7,582 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, 12% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 90% 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). 3.5% of Metuchen households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 21% of Metuchen’s commuters take a bus or train.
Metuchen next to U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000: 374th of 2,109 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Franklin Lakes NJ | 11,180 | $236K | 3.4% | 2.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Hanover Township NJ | 15,105 | $157K | 3.2% | 2.6% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | East Greenwich Township NJ | 12,610 | $149K | 2.0% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 372 | Lakeville MA | 12,430 | $134K | 4.0% | 3.7% | 8% | A |
| 373 | Somerset MA | 18,681 | $113K | 4.9% | 3.3% | 12% | A |
| 374 | Metuchen NJ | 15,363 | $158K | 3.6% | 5.8% | 6% | A |
| 375 | Monroe OH | 15,880 | $105K | 4.5% | 3.2% | 8% | A |
| 376 | Springfield Township NJ | 18,342 | $156K | 5.7% | 4.8% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | 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 Metuchen, 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 Metuchen: questions
What is the median household income in Metuchen?
$158,052 (±$14,768) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Metuchen?
3.6%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Metuchen?
38 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Metuchen work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (10%, 24 mi), Edison Township (10%, 3 mi), New Brunswick (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Metuchen walkable?
Metuchen is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.6 out of 20, and 24% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Metuchen without a car?
21% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 12% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Metuchen, from the people who make the trip.
More of Metuchen
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.