Photo: Brandon S. Jacobsen · CC BY-SA 3.0Raritan draws 8,614 commuters a day, with 2.2 jobs for every working resident
There are 8,850 jobs in Raritan, against 4,112 working residents. Raritan grades A for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Measured by household income, Raritan is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Raritan and work: the main findings
Raritan is where the jobs are
Raritan has 8,850 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 13,000 people are in town, 56% more than the 8,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
Raritan draws workers from far and wide
The 8,850 jobs in Raritan are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 24%; the other 73% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Most jobs in Raritan pay over $40,000 a year
80% of the jobs based in Raritan pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Raritan are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 31 across New Jersey. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Jersey worker, and quicker than any town next door (28 to 33 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Raritan’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Raritan is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #148 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (8.0%, U.S. 12.5%). 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, Raritan could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Raritan
On a workday 3,876 residents head out to work and 236 work right here.
About 13,000 people are in Raritan on a workday afternoon, 56% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where the people who work in Raritan live
Where Raritan clocks in
10% of workers
5% 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.
80% of the jobs in Raritan pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Raritan, 2014 → 2024: 8,830 → 8,850. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Raritan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes each way for Raritan’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Raritan workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,043 commuters (the 16% 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.
Where in the region Raritan works
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Raritan
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Raritan is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #284 of 468 in New Jersey. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.2% 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 4,827 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 45% 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 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 68% 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). 4.3% of Raritan households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Raritan’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Raritan ranks: 496th of 2,922 U.S. towns of 6,000 to 11,500
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Hainesport Township NJ | 6,197 | $143K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Waldwick NJ | 10,252 | $178K | 1.4% | 2.2% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Old Tappan NJ | 6,686 | $205K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 494 | Canton CT | 10,304 | $118K | 5.7% | 3.1% | 12% | A |
| 495 | Grass Lake Township MI | 6,273 | $96K | 3.6% | 1.7% | 8% | A |
| 496 | Raritan NJ | 8,516 | $108K | 8.0% | 2.8% | 6% | A |
| 497 | Justin TX | 7,285 | $114K | 0.2% | 5.5% | 1% | A |
| 498 | Hamilton MA | 7,674 | $130K | 7.8% | 3.0% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,922 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Raritan, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Next door is work for 15% of Raritan
The biggest share goes to Bridgewater Township (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Raritan workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raritan | – | A | A− | 22 min | $107,672 |
| Bridgewater Township | 10% | A | A− | 31 min | $172,851 |
| Hillsborough Township | 3% | A | B− | 33 min | $154,031 |
| Bradley Gardens | under 3% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Somerville | 2% | A | A+ | 28 min | $103,760 |
Same-state neighbors only. Bradley Gardens: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Raritan’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 2024, 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 Raritan: questions
What is the median household income in Raritan?
$107,672 (±$8,453) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Raritan?
8.0%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Raritan?
22 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Raritan work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bridgewater Township (10%, 3 mi), Branchburg Township (5%, 3 mi), New York City (5%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Raritan walkable?
Raritan is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Raritan without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Raritan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Raritan
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.