Teunis Haring House · Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Old Tappan’s household incomes are among the highest in the country
2.3% of residents live below the poverty line, against 9.7% across New Jersey. Measured by household income, Old Tappan is among the highest-earning towns in the country. Jobs and income earn Old Tappan A+; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Old Tappan and work: the main findings
A lot of Old Tappan workers cross into New York
25% of Old Tappan workers work outside New Jersey, most of them in New York, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Old Tappan’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Old Tappan is New York City, NY, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 25% of working residents (713) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Old Tappan than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Old Tappan fell from 2,011 in 2013 to 1,352 in 2023, −33%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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.
Jobs & income in Old Tappan: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Old Tappan is among the top U.S. towns, #6 of 468 in New Jersey. Household income is its strongest input ($205,385, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (2.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Old Tappan stays A+.
25% of working residents work in New York City
Where Old Tappan clocks in
25% of workers
3% 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.
Miles to work from Old Tappan
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.
Inside Old Tappan’s 1,352 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Old Tappan, 2013 → 2023: 2,011 → 1,352. 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 Old Tappan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Old Tappan: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,742 residents head out to work, 124 work right here, and 1,228 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,200 people are in Old Tappan on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.47 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.
About 34 minutes each way for Old Tappan’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Old Tappan workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,200 commuters (the 20% 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.
In Old Tappan, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Old Tappan is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #229 of 468 in New Jersey. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 13.2% across New Jersey, on an EPA index of 8.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,733 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). 5.7% of Old Tappan households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Old Tappan’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Old Tappan is 21st among 3,201 U.S. towns of 4,700 to 9,000
| # | 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Hainesport Township NJ | 6,197 | $143K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | South Run VA | 6,600 | $250K | 2.1% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| 20 | Albertville MN | 8,544 | $133K | 1.1% | 0.2% | 5% | A+ |
| 21 | Old Tappan NJ | 6,686 | $205K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| 22 | North Hills NY | 5,481 | $173K | 3.0% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 23 | West Vincent Township PA | 6,885 | $203K | 1.4% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Fanwood NJ | 8,035 | $196K | 1.0% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,201 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Old Tappan, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Next door to Old Tappan
The biggest share goes to Northvale (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Old Tappan workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Tappan | – | A+ | A | 34 min | $205,385 |
| River Vale Township | under 2% | A+ | A | 39 min | $213,666 |
| Northvale | 2% | A− | A | 26 min | $127,625 |
| Harrington Park | under 2% | A | A | 36 min | $180,500 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Old Tappan’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 Old Tappan: questions
What is the median household income in Old Tappan?
$205,385 (±$33,897) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Old Tappan?
2.3%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Old Tappan?
34 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Old Tappan work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (25%, 25 mi), Orangetown (3%, 3 mi), Paramus (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Old Tappan walkable?
Old Tappan is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Old Tappan without a car?
7% 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 Old Tappan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Old Tappan
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.