Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 3.0Pompton Lakes’ household incomes are higher than in 90% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.0 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 43.7 in Jersey City. 8.4% of residents live below the poverty line, where New Jersey as a whole has 9.7%. The two grades for Pompton Lakes are A for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Pompton Lakes apart on work
No single place dominates Pompton Lakes’ commute
The biggest draw, New York City, NY, gets only 7% of working residents, and 66% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Pompton Lakes residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Pompton Lakes empties out on a workday
About 6,800 people are in Pompton Lakes on a workday afternoon, 40% fewer than the 11,000 who live here: 6,200 head out to work and 1,800 come in. Day and night ↓
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 Pompton Lakes: the grade in detail
Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pompton Lakes could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
7% of working residents work in New York City
Where Pompton Lakes clocks in
7% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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 daily flow of workers through Pompton Lakes
On a workday 6,229 residents head out to work, 299 work right here, and 1,757 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,800 people are in Pompton Lakes on a workday afternoon, 40% fewer than live here.
0.31 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Pompton Lakes
2,056 jobs are based in Pompton Lakes.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pompton Lakes, 2013 → 2023: 1,839 → 2,056. 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 Pompton Lakes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 30 minutes each way for Pompton Lakes’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pompton Lakes workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,488 commuters (the 12% 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.
Half of Pompton Lakes commutes less than 13 miles
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Pompton Lakes
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pompton Lakes is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #224 of 468 in New Jersey. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.1% 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 6,262 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 90% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 17% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% 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). 2.5% of Pompton Lakes households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Pompton Lakes’ commuters take a bus or train.
Pompton Lakes places 396th of 2,507 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Waldwick NJ | 10,252 | $178K | 1.4% | 2.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Fanwood NJ | 8,035 | $196K | 1.0% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 21 | Oradell NJ | 8,293 | $221K | 3.6% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 394 | Los Altos Hills CA | 8,419 | $250K | 7.3% | 3.5% | 3% | A |
| 395 | Flowery Branch GA | 13,110 | $104K | 6.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A |
| 396 | Pompton Lakes NJ | 11,246 | $124K | 8.4% | 3.1% | 5% | A |
| 397 | Salisbury Township PA | 11,598 | $93K | 5.3% | 0.4% | 15% | A |
| 398 | South Park Township PA | 13,613 | $101K | 3.8% | 3.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Pompton Lakes, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
The towns around Pompton Lakes
The biggest share goes to Wayne Township (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pompton Lakes workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pompton Lakes | – | A | A | 30 min | $124,454 |
| Pequannock Township | 2% | A | A | 28 min | $120,666 |
| Pompton Plains | under 3% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Wayne Township | 6% | A | A | 29 min | $153,056 |
| Riverdale | under 3% | A+ | A | 28 min | $102,950 |
| Pines Lake | under 3% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Wanaque | under 3% | A | A− | 30 min | $113,175 |
| Bloomingdale | under 3% | A− | A− | 29 min | $127,500 |
Same-state neighbors only. Pompton Plains and Pines Lake: 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 Pompton Lakes’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 Pompton Lakes: questions
What is the median household income in Pompton Lakes?
$124,454 (±$13,943) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pompton Lakes?
8.4%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pompton Lakes?
30 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pompton Lakes work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (7%, 30 mi), Wayne Township (6%, 4 mi), Paterson (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pompton Lakes walkable?
Pompton Lakes is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pompton Lakes without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 17% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pompton Lakes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pompton Lakes
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.