Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0At 7.4%, unemployment in Wharton is higher than in 85% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 43.7 in Jersey City. The two grades for Wharton are B− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Only 6% work in Wharton itself; outside it, New York City draws the most (5%, 37 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Wharton: the figures worth knowing
How Wharton earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wharton is better than 49% of U.S. towns, #405 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car holds Wharton’s grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wharton could be anywhere from C to A.
Commuting out of Wharton: the destinations
Where Wharton clocks in
5% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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 daily flow of workers through Wharton
On a workday 3,514 residents head out to work, 222 work right here, and 2,017 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,100 people are in Wharton on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.60 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.
What the 2,239 jobs in Wharton are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wharton, 2013 → 2023: 2,607 → 2,239. 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 Wharton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 32 minutes each way for Wharton’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wharton workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,716 commuters (the 9% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Wharton
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Wharton
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wharton is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #215 of 468 in New Jersey. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 13.2% across New Jersey.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,095 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, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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 Wharton households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Wharton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,111 U.S. towns of 5,300 to 10,300, Wharton comes 1,808th 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 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 4 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Hainesport Township NJ | 6,197 | $143K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Waldwick NJ | 10,252 | $178K | 1.4% | 2.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,806 | Barling AR | 5,452 | $54K | 15.1% | 1.8% | 2% | B− |
| 1,807 | Algona IA | 5,309 | $56K | 6.9% | 2.0% | 55% | B− |
| 1,808 | Wharton NJ | 7,618 | $86K | 15.3% | 7.4% | 6% | B− |
| 1,809 | Plain Township IN | 8,969 | $71K | 12.5% | 2.8% | 13% | B− |
| 1,810 | Eagleton Village TN | 5,598 | $72K | 11.8% | 5.5% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,111 | 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 Wharton, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Wharton and its neighbors: 10% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wharton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wharton | – | B− | A | 32 min | $85,767 |
| Mine Hill Township | under 2% | A | B | 30 min | $119,583 |
| Rockaway Township | 3% | A | B+ | 30 min | $141,868 |
| Dover | 5% | B− | A | 26 min | $73,737 |
| Roxbury Township | 2% | A− | B+ | 33 min | $134,519 |
| Mount Hope | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Mount Hope: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Dover. Darker towns draw more of Wharton’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.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Wharton: questions
What is the median household income in Wharton?
$85,767 (±$17,568) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wharton?
15.3%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wharton?
32 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wharton work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (5%, 37 mi), Dover (5%, 1 mi), Parsippany-Troy Hills Township (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wharton walkable?
Wharton is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wharton without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wharton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wharton
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.