Cavarly Cottage · Photo: James Welsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Stafford Township are higher than in 87% of U.S. towns
About one in five stay in Stafford Township for work; outside it, Toms River Township is the main destination (7%, 21 miles). 3.0% of residents live below the poverty line (New Jersey 9.7%). For jobs and income Stafford Township is better than 75% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Stafford Township, in brief
Why Stafford Township gets the Jobs & income grade it does
The poverty rate holds Stafford Township’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Stafford Township could be anywhere from B+ to A−.
Where Stafford Township’s working residents head each day
Where Stafford Township clocks in
7% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Stafford Township
On a workday 11,161 residents head out to work, 2,374 work right here, and 6,745 people come in from elsewhere.
About 27,000 people are in Stafford Township on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.67 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.
The 9,119 jobs based in Stafford Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stafford Township, 2014 → 2024: 7,705 → 9,119. 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 Stafford Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 31 minutes each way, about the NJ average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stafford Township workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 13,359 commuters (the 13% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Stafford Township
About 20% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
Driving is how Stafford Township gets around
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 15,303 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 3% 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 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 45% 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). 3.6% of Stafford Township households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Stafford Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Stafford Township places 552nd of 1,334 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 22,000 to 42,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Scotch Plains Township NJ | 25,437 | $184K | 2.5% | 3.2% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Westfield NJ | 32,595 | $233K | 1.8% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Cranford Township NJ | 24,725 | $156K | 2.5% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 550 | Hanahan SC | 22,415 | $88K | 11.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A− |
| 551 | Clinton UT | 23,797 | $116K | 7.0% | 4.9% | 3% | A− |
| 552 | Stafford Township NJ | 30,958 | $118K | 3.0% | 5.4% | 18% | A− |
| 553 | Falls Township PA | 34,282 | $93K | 7.6% | 4.9% | 10% | A− |
| 554 | East Windsor Township NJ | 30,562 | $105K | 7.8% | 5.2% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,334 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 16% | 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 Stafford Township, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Around Stafford Township: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Barnegat Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Stafford Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stafford Township | – | A− | B | 31 min | $117,612 |
| Barnegat Township | 3% | B− | B− | 28 min | $91,540 |
| Long Beach Township | 2% | B− | A | 29 min | $113,224 |
| Ship Bottom | under 2% | A− | A | 27 min | $108,750 |
| Surf City | under 2% | A− | A | 35 min | $118,750 |
| Eagleswood Township | under 2% | B+ | B | 26 min | $101,875 |
| Harvey Cedars | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Harvey Cedars: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Stafford 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 Stafford Township: questions
What is the median household income in Stafford Township?
$117,612 (±$9,695) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stafford Township?
3.0%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stafford Township?
31 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stafford Township work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Toms River Township (7%, 21 mi), Lakewood Township (3%, 26 mi), Barnegat Township (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Stafford Township walkable?
Stafford Township is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stafford Township 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 Stafford Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stafford 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.