Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Saddle River’s household incomes are among the highest in the country
Jobs & income A: better than 86% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #179 of 468 in New Jersey.
Walkability C: more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns · #453 of 468 in New Jersey.
Working residents average 27 minutes each way (New Jersey 31, U.S. 26). Only 3% work in Saddle River; the top destination outside it is New York City (22%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Saddle River
Saddle River’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Saddle River is New York City, NY, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (330) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Saddle River makes and builds things
43% of the jobs based in Saddle River are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Saddle River residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 10%. The jobs ↓
Most jobs in Saddle River pay over $40,000 a year
75% of the jobs based in Saddle River pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
A lot of Saddle River works from home
25% of Saddle River workers work from home, against 17% across New Jersey. Time on the road ↓
Saddle River’s workforce skews older
37% of Saddle River’s working residents are 55 or older. 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 Saddle River’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Saddle River is better than 86% of U.S. towns, #179 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car holds Saddle River’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (7.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Saddle River could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Half of Saddle River commutes less than 15 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Saddle River makes things: 43% of its jobs are in goods
906 jobs are based in Saddle River. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Saddle River’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Saddle River, 2013 → 2023: 898 → 906. 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.
About 27 minutes each way, quicker than most of New Jersey
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Saddle River workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,094 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.
Saddle River quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,445 residents head out to work, 43 work right here, and 863 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in Saddle River on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
22% of working residents work in New York City
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Saddle River clocks in
22% of workers
4% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Most trips from Saddle River start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Saddle River is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #453 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Saddle River 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 1,459 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 0.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 8.5% of Saddle River households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Saddle River’s commuters take a bus or train.
Saddle River is 566th of 4,402 U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Saddle River, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Harding Township NJ | 3,949 | $222K | 3.3% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Haworth NJ | 3,422 | $237K | 3.7% | 2.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 564 | Birmingham Township PA | 4,118 | $215K | 1.7% | 6.7% | 4% | A |
| 565 | Mount Repose OH | 3,798 | $102K | 2.8% | 4.4% | 2% | A |
| 566 | Saddle River NJ | 3,430 | $212K | 4.3% | 7.3% | 3% | A |
| 567 | Madison OH | 3,427 | $95K | 4.1% | 2.6% | 4% | A |
| 568 | Salem CT | 4,324 | $123K | 6.2% | 3.2% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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.
Saddle River and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Saddle River’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Saddle River workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saddle River | – | A | C | 27 min | $212,143 |
| Waldwick | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 27 min | $177,962 |
| Allendale | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 36 min | $160,162 |
| Woodcliff Lake | under 2% | A | A | 33 min | $213,981 |
| Upper Saddle River | under 2% | A | A | 37 min | $250,000+ |
| Ho-Ho-Kus | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 34 min | $250,000+ |
| Hillsdale | under 2% | A+ | A | 28 min | $186,688 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Saddle River: questions
What is the median household income in Saddle River?
$212,143 (±$97,827) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Saddle River?
4.3%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Saddle River?
27 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 Saddle River work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (22%, 26 mi), Paramus (4%, 5 mi), Hackensack (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Saddle River walkable?
Saddle River is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Saddle River without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Saddle River, from the people who make the trip.
More of Saddle River
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.