Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Rockaway Township has higher household incomes than 94% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Rockaway Township A; getting around on foot earns it B+. Poverty touches 4.0% of residents, where New Jersey as a whole has 9.7%. At home: 25% of workers have no commute at all (New Jersey 17%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Rockaway Township in brief
No single place dominates Rockaway Township’s commute
The biggest draw, Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, gets only 6% of working residents, and 65% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Rockaway Township residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Rockaway Township draws workers from far and wide
The 8,193 jobs in Rockaway Township are filled from a wide area. Rockaway Township’s own residents hold 10% and the ten next-biggest home towns 21%; the other 69% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Rockaway Township
25% of Rockaway Township workers work from home, against 17% across New Jersey. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Rockaway Township’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rockaway Township is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #153 of 468 in New Jersey. Household income holds Rockaway Township’s grade up ($141,868, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rockaway Township could be anywhere from A− to A+.
6% of working residents work in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township
Where Rockaway Township clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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.
Getting to work from Rockaway Township takes about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rockaway Township workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,284 commuters (the 25% 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.
Rockaway Township quiets down on a workday
On a workday 12,155 residents head out to work, 801 work right here, and 7,392 people come in from elsewhere.
About 23,000 people are in Rockaway Township on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.63 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 2024, primary jobs.
Inside Rockaway Township’s 8,193 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rockaway Township, 2014 → 2024: 9,403 → 8,193. 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 Rockaway Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Rockaway Township commutes less than 14 miles
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.
Getting around Rockaway Township: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rockaway Township is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #361 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Rockaway Township 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 13,767 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 15% 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 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 52% 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). 3.2% of Rockaway Township households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Rockaway Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
323rd of 1,509: where Rockaway Township ranks among U.S. towns of 19,000 to 37,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Scotch Plains Township NJ | 25,437 | $184K | 2.5% | 3.2% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Westfield NJ | 32,595 | $233K | 1.8% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Cranford Township NJ | 24,725 | $156K | 2.5% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 321 | Perrysburg OH | 25,441 | $112K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 13% | A |
| 322 | Grafton MA | 21,043 | $131K | 6.3% | 3.6% | 8% | A |
| 323 | Rockaway Township NJ | 27,728 | $142K | 4.0% | 5.5% | 6% | A |
| 324 | Central LA | 30,313 | $90K | 5.4% | 2.2% | 11% | A |
| 325 | Champlin MN | 23,125 | $116K | 7.2% | 3.6% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,509 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 35% | 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 Rockaway Township, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Bordering towns draw 11% of Rockaway Township’s workers
The biggest share goes to Denville Township (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rockaway Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockaway Township | – | A | B+ | 30 min | $141,868 |
| Denville Township | 4% | A | A | 30 min | $160,817 |
| Newfoundland | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| West Milford Township | under 2% | A− | B | 40 min | $132,114 |
| Wharton | under 2% | B− | A | 32 min | $85,767 |
| Rockaway | 2% | A− | A | 24 min | $107,053 |
| Dover | 3% | B− | A | 26 min | $73,737 |
| Randolph Township | 2% | A | B+ | 30 min | $175,000 |
| Jefferson Township | under 2% | A | B+ | 37 min | $119,836 |
| Boonton Township | under 2% | A | B− | 26 min | $192,188 |
Same-state neighbors only. Newfoundland: 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 Rockaway Township’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 Rockaway Township: questions
What is the median household income in Rockaway Township?
$141,868 (±$4,783) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rockaway Township?
4.0%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rockaway Township?
30 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rockaway Township work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Parsippany-Troy Hills Township (6%, 8 mi), New York City (5%, 36 mi), Morristown (4%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Rockaway Township walkable?
Rockaway Township is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rockaway Township without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rockaway Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rockaway Township
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.