Photo: J · CC BY-SA 4.0Ridgewood’s household incomes are among the highest in the country
Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. 4.2% of residents live below the poverty line (New Jersey 9.7%). The two grades for Ridgewood 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
Ridgewood at work: what stands out
Ridgewood trades workers with the towns around it
Ridgewood has about as many jobs (12,029) as working residents (10,102), but they are mostly different people: 9,189 residents leave for work each day while 11,116 people come in. Only 8% of the jobs in Ridgewood are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Ridgewood draws workers from far and wide
The 12,029 jobs in Ridgewood are filled from a wide area. Ridgewood’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 19%; the other 73% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
A lot of Ridgewood works from home
32% of Ridgewood workers work from home, against 17% across New Jersey. Time on the road ↓
Ridgewood’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Ridgewood is New York City, NY, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 20% of working residents (1,983) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Nearly all the work in Ridgewood is services
89% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 2% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
What’s behind Ridgewood’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ridgewood is better than 97% of U.S. towns, #36 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car is its strongest input (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Ridgewood could be anywhere from A to A+.
Who commutes out of Ridgewood, and who commutes in
On a workday 9,189 residents head out to work, 913 work right here, and 11,116 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.19 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
20% of working residents work in New York City
Where Ridgewood clocks in
20% of workers
5% of workers
2% 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.
Each way, about 35 minutes from Ridgewood
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ridgewood workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,718 commuters (the 32% 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 Ridgewood works
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 Ridgewood, services account for most jobs
12,029 jobs are based in Ridgewood.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ridgewood, 2013 → 2023: 11,111 → 12,029. 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 Ridgewood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Ridgewood, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ridgewood is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #84 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Ridgewood 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 12,834 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 93% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 20% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 9.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% 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). 5.0% of Ridgewood households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 18% of Ridgewood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ridgewood next to U.S. towns of 19,000 to 36,000: 46th of 1,477 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Scotch Plains Township NJ | 25,437 | $184K | 2.5% | 3.2% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Westfield NJ | 32,595 | $233K | 1.8% | 3.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Cranford Township NJ | 24,725 | $156K | 2.5% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Geneva Township IL | 26,220 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.5% | 15% | A+ |
| 45 | Horsham Township PA | 27,882 | $122K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 11% | A+ |
| 46 | Ridgewood NJ | 26,527 | $208K | 4.2% | 3.4% | 9% | A+ |
| 47 | Avon Lake OH | 26,486 | $116K | 3.2% | 1.6% | 11% | A+ |
| 48 | Peters Township PA | 23,262 | $146K | 2.1% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,477 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Ridgewood, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Ridgewood and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Paramus (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ridgewood workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridgewood | – | A+ | A+ | 35 min | $208,211 |
| Ho-Ho-Kus | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 34 min | $250,000+ |
| Paramus | 5% | A− | A+ | 31 min | $144,349 |
| Glen Rock | under 2% | A | A+ | 37 min | $215,096 |
| Washington Township | under 2% | A+ | A− | 32 min | $180,133 |
| Waldwick | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 27 min | $177,962 |
| Midland Park | under 2% | A | A | 28 min | $146,841 |
| Wyckoff Township | under 2% | A | A | 33 min | $203,988 |
| Hawthorne | under 2% | A | A | 25 min | $110,237 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ridgewood’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 Ridgewood: questions
What is the median household income in Ridgewood?
$208,211 (±$17,735) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ridgewood?
4.2%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ridgewood?
35 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 32% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ridgewood work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (20%, 24 mi), Paramus (5%, 3 mi), Jersey City (2%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ridgewood walkable?
Ridgewood is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.6 out of 20, and 22% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ridgewood without a car?
18% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 20% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ridgewood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ridgewood
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.