Hopper-Goetschius House · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Upper Saddle River’s household incomes are among the highest in the country
For jobs and income Upper Saddle River is better than 85% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (A). Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. The poverty rate is 4.5%, next to 9.7% for New Jersey as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Upper Saddle River, in a few figures
A lot of Upper Saddle River works from home
37% of Upper Saddle River workers work from home, against 17% across New Jersey. Time on the road ↓
Upper Saddle River’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Upper Saddle River is New York City, NY, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (620) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Upper Saddle River than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Upper Saddle River fell from 4,410 in 2013 to 2,939 in 2023, −33%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Upper Saddle River workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 31 across New Jersey. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (27 to 33 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Three in four Upper Saddle River workers earn over $40,000 a year
77% of Upper Saddle River’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Upper Saddle River
Household income holds Upper Saddle River’s grade up ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (7.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
The Census reports Upper Saddle River’s median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Upper Saddle River could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Upper Saddle River’s commute takes about 37 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Upper Saddle River workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,389 commuters (the 37% 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.
How far Upper Saddle River’s workers travel
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.
67% of the jobs in Upper Saddle River pay over $3,333 a month
2,939 jobs are based in Upper Saddle River.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Upper Saddle River, 2013 → 2023: 4,410 → 2,939. 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 Upper Saddle River’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Upper Saddle River on a workday afternoon
On a workday 3,487 residents head out to work, 133 work right here, and 2,806 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 (0.81 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.
17% of working residents work in New York City
Where Upper Saddle River clocks in
17% of workers
4% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Upper Saddle River
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 16.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 13.2% across New Jersey, on an EPA index of 8.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,783 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 14% 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 under 0.1 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). 3.2% of Upper Saddle River households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 14% of Upper Saddle River’s commuters take a bus or train.
Upper Saddle River next to U.S. towns of 6,100 to 11,700: 622nd of 2,893 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Hainesport Township NJ | 6,197 | $143K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Waldwick NJ | 10,252 | $178K | 1.4% | 2.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Old Tappan NJ | 6,686 | $205K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 620 | Hampstead NH | 9,110 | $112K | 3.8% | 4.0% | 8% | A |
| 621 | Wildewood MD | 7,552 | $127K | 4.7% | 1.7% | 4% | A |
| 622 | Upper Saddle River NJ | 8,650 | $250K | 4.5% | 7.3% | 4% | A |
| 623 | Harrisville UT | 7,154 | $89K | 5.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A |
| 624 | Upper Freehold Township NJ | 7,251 | $184K | 2.2% | 6.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,893 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Upper Saddle River, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
The towns around Upper Saddle River
The biggest share goes to Ramsey (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Upper Saddle River workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Saddle River | – | A | A | 37 min | $250,000+ |
| Ramsey | 3% | A+ | A | 32 min | $160,996 |
| Saddle River | under 2% | A | C | 27 min | $212,143 |
| Mahwah Township | 2% | A | A | 28 min | $131,327 |
| Montvale | 2% | A | A | 32 min | $178,269 |
| Woodcliff Lake | under 2% | A | A | 33 min | $213,981 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Upper Saddle River’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Upper Saddle River: questions
What is the median household income in Upper Saddle River?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Upper Saddle River?
4.5%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Upper Saddle River?
37 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 37% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Upper Saddle River work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (17%, 29 mi), Paramus (4%, 8 mi), Ramsey (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Upper Saddle River walkable?
Upper Saddle River is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 16% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Upper Saddle River without a car?
14% 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 Upper Saddle River, from the people who make the trip.
More of Upper 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.