Photo: Rafaelgarcia · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Perth Amboy (14.3%) is among the highest in the country
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 8.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 43.7 in Jersey City. Perth Amboy grades C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For 5% of workers, the job is at home (New Jersey 17%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Perth Amboy, in brief
Where Perth Amboy’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Perth Amboy is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #448 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car holds Perth Amboy’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, Perth Amboy could be anywhere from C− to C+.
The daily trip from Perth Amboy: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Perth Amboy workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 23,539 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.
Perth Amboy by day and by night
On a workday 20,175 residents head out to work, 3,392 work right here, and 11,896 people come in from elsewhere.
About 48,000 people are in Perth Amboy on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.65 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.
11% of working residents work in Edison Township
Where Perth Amboy clocks in
11% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
Inside Perth Amboy’s 15,288 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Perth Amboy, 2013 → 2023: 12,282 → 15,288. 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 Perth Amboy’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Perth Amboy
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.
In Perth Amboy, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Perth Amboy is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns, #105 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Perth Amboy 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 24,725 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, 69% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 8.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 92% 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). 20.9% of Perth Amboy households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Perth Amboy’s commuters take a bus or train.
Perth Amboy places 674th of 773 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 40,000 to 77,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Marlboro Township NJ | 42,254 | $186K | 3.5% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Bridgewater Township NJ | 46,455 | $173K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Wayne Township NJ | 54,819 | $153K | 3.4% | 4.9% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 672 | Yuba City CA | 69,485 | $75K | 14.3% | 7.0% | 26% | C |
| 673 | Dothan AL | 72,060 | $56K | 19.3% | 4.3% | 58% | C |
| 674 | Perth Amboy NJ | 56,739 | $62K | 20.2% | 14.3% | 14% | C |
| 675 | Hilo HI | 50,404 | $82K | 14.5% | 6.9% | 60% | C |
| 676 | Kalamazoo MI | 72,683 | $52K | 24.9% | 6.9% | 33% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 773 | 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 Perth Amboy, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Bordering towns draw 13% of Perth Amboy’s workers
The biggest share goes to Woodbridge Township (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Perth Amboy workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perth Amboy | – | C | A+ | 24 min | $61,977 |
| Woodbridge Township | 7% | A− | A+ | 33 min | $108,928 |
| Sewaren | under 2% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Hopelawn | under 2% | — | — | 46 min | — |
| Sayreville | under 2% | A− | A | 31 min | $99,979 |
| South Amboy | under 2% | B+ | A+ | 31 min | $91,997 |
Same-state neighbors only. Sewaren and Hopelawn: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Perth Amboy’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 Perth Amboy: questions
What is the median household income in Perth Amboy?
$61,977 (±$5,725) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Perth Amboy?
20.2%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Perth Amboy?
24 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 Perth Amboy work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Edison Township (11%, 4 mi), Woodbridge Township (7%, 3 mi), New York City (6%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Perth Amboy walkable?
Perth Amboy is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.5 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Perth Amboy without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 21% of households have no car. 69% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Perth Amboy, from the people who make the trip.
More of Perth Amboy
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.