Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Paterson (10.7%) is higher than in 95% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 80% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Paterson is better than 27% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is among the most walkable U.S. towns (A+). Home is the office for 5% of workers (New Jersey 17%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Paterson and work: the main findings
No single place dominates Paterson’s commute
The biggest draw, Wayne Township, gets only 4% of working residents, and 57% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Paterson residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Paterson are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 31 across New Jersey. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Jersey worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Paterson residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 6% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
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.
Inside Paterson’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Paterson’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Paterson could be anywhere from C− to C.
Where Paterson goes to work
Where Paterson clocks in
4% 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.
About 23 minutes to work from Paterson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Paterson workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 62,633 commuters (the 5% 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.
Miles to work from Paterson
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.
How a workday changes Paterson
On a workday 48,328 residents head out to work, 10,365 work right here, and 28,514 people come in from elsewhere.
About 142,000 people are in Paterson on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.66 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.
What the 38,879 jobs in Paterson are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Paterson, 2013 → 2023: 34,032 → 38,879. 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 Paterson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Paterson is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Paterson is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #48 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Paterson 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 66,083 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, 86% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 14.0 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). 26.1% of Paterson households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Paterson’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Paterson places 173rd of 201 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 113,000 to 218,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Smithtown NY | 116,847 | $153K | 4.2% | 3.9% | 16% | A |
| 3 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Elizabeth NJ | 141,675 | $67K | 15.7% | 7.7% | 19% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 164 | Lakewood Township NJ | 143,765 | $65K | 24.8% | 5.8% | 42% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 171 | Eugene OR | 178,618 | $67K | 19.0% | 7.6% | 56% | C |
| 172 | Center Township IN | 155,258 | $55K | 24.7% | 6.8% | 32% | C |
| 173 | Paterson NJ | 161,793 | $56K | 21.2% | 10.7% | 18% | C |
| 174 | Sunrise Manor NV | 200,218 | $58K | 20.2% | 9.2% | 7% | C |
| 175 | Thornton Township IL | 152,667 | $59K | 20.8% | 11.8% | 14% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 201 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Paterson, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Next door to Paterson
The biggest share goes to Clifton (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Paterson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paterson | – | C | A+ | 23 min | $55,997 |
| Fair Lawn | under 2% | A− | A+ | 31 min | $144,574 |
| Elmwood Park | under 2% | B | A+ | 27 min | $101,740 |
| Prospect Park | under 2% | C− | A | 23 min | $53,125 |
| Hawthorne | under 2% | A | A | 25 min | $110,237 |
| Haledon | under 2% | B+ | A | 25 min | $95,870 |
| Woodland Park | under 2% | A− | A | 23 min | $98,845 |
| Clifton | 3% | B+ | A+ | 28 min | $98,237 |
| Totowa | 3% | A+ | A− | 25 min | $113,563 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Paterson’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 Paterson: questions
What is the median household income in Paterson?
$55,997 (±$3,427) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Paterson?
21.2%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Paterson?
23 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Paterson work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wayne Township (4%, 5 mi), Paramus (3%, 5 mi), Clifton (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Paterson walkable?
Paterson is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.7 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Paterson without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 26% of households have no car. 86% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Paterson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Paterson
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.