Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Trenton has higher unemployment (10.1%) than 94% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 85% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Trenton C−; getting around on foot earns it A+. Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers, where New Jersey as a whole has 17%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Trenton apart
Jobs in Trenton have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Trenton went from 24,063 in 2014 to 59,703 in 2024, +148%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Trenton pay better than its residents’ jobs
81% of the jobs based in Trenton pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 55% of the jobs Trenton residents hold. 91% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Trenton. The jobs ↓
Trenton is where the jobs are
Trenton has 59,703 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Trenton draws workers from far and wide
The 59,703 jobs in Trenton are filled from a wide area. Trenton’s own residents hold 9% and the ten next-biggest home towns 24%; the other 67% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Trenton is services
92% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 4% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Trenton: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Trenton is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #457 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car holds Trenton’s grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Trenton could be anywhere from C− to C.
Trenton is a services town
59,703 jobs are based in Trenton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Trenton, 2014 → 2024: 24,063 → 59,703. 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 Trenton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Trenton, and who commutes in
On a workday 25,508 residents head out to work, 5,455 work right here, and 54,248 people come in from elsewhere.
About 120,000 people are in Trenton on a workday afternoon, 31% more than live here.
1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where Trenton’s workers come from
Where Trenton clocks in
8% of workers
5% 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.
Getting to work from Trenton takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Trenton workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 32,978 commuters (the 7% 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 Trenton 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.
Trenton is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 35,509 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 92% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 11.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% 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). 26.7% of Trenton households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Trenton’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 64,000 to 124,000, and where Trenton sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Franklin Township NJ | 69,105 | $125K | 5.9% | 5.1% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Edison Township NJ | 109,077 | $125K | 4.7% | 6.2% | 15% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 105 | Middletown Township NJ | 67,135 | $142K | 4.2% | 5.8% | 12% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 462 | Lansing MI | 113,884 | $54K | 20.1% | 8.2% | 32% | C− |
| 463 | Lake Charles LA | 82,676 | $59K | 23.3% | 6.6% | 53% | C− |
| 464 | Trenton NJ | 91,506 | $53K | 21.6% | 10.1% | 18% | C− |
| 465 | Portage Township IN | 94,293 | $53K | 23.2% | 6.7% | 26% | C− |
| 466 | New Bedford MA | 101,834 | $57K | 20.6% | 8.3% | 30% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 495 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 50% | 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 Trenton, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Work next door: 16% of Trenton’s workers
The biggest share goes to Hamilton Township (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Trenton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trenton | – | C− | A+ | 27 min | $52,537 |
| Hamilton Township | 8% | B+ | A− | 25 min | $100,771 |
| Ewing Township | 5% | B | A | 24 min | $91,267 |
| Lawrence Township | 3% | A− | A+ | 29 min | $130,142 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Trenton’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 Trenton: questions
What is the median household income in Trenton?
$52,537 (±$3,804) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Trenton?
21.6%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Trenton?
27 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Trenton work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hamilton Township (8%, 5 mi), Ewing Township (5%, 3 mi), New York City (3%, 53 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Trenton walkable?
Trenton is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.9 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Trenton without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 27% of households have no car. 92% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Trenton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Trenton
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.