State profile

New Jersey

Population, economy, housing, and demographics · ACS 2020–2024

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At a glance

Total population
9,343,809
Median household income
$103,556
People below poverty
9.7%
Median home value
$454,400

Census Insights

  • Median household income was $103,556, the 4th highest among states.
  • The share of people below the poverty level was relatively low at 9.7%, the 6th lowest among states.
  • Housing costs stood out: median home value was $454,400 (the 9th highest among states) and median gross rent was $1,720 per month (the 7th highest among states).
  • The total number of households rose from 3,188,498 to 3,507,701 over the 10-year comparison period.
  • The share of the population born outside the United States was 23.9%, the 2nd highest among states.
  • The share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher was 43.6%, the 5th highest among states.
  • Working from home became much more common, rising from 3.9% to 16.8% over the 10-year comparison period.
  • The mean commute time was relatively long at 30.5 minutes, the 3rd highest among states.

Income

The median income of households in New Jersey was $103,556. An estimated 4.1% of households had income below $10,000 a year and 21.6% had income of $200,000 or more.

Household Income in New Jersey in 2020-2024

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Percent
Less than $10,000 4.1
$10,000 to $14,999 2.7
$15,000 to $24,999 4.8
$25,000 to $34,999 5.1
$35,000 to $49,999 7.6
$50,000 to $74,999 12.8
$75,000 to $99,999 11.3
$100,000 to $149,999 18.1
$150,000 to $199,999 11.8
$200,000 or more 21.6

Median Earnings for Full-Time Year-Round Workers by Sex in New Jersey in 2020-2024

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Dollars
Male 83124
Female 68358

An estimated 80% of households received earnings. An estimated 31.4% of households received Social Security and an estimated 24.7 % of households received retirement income other than Social Security. The average income from Social Security was $26,170. These income sources are not mutually exclusive; that is, some households received income from more than one source.

Proportion of Households with Various Income Sources in New Jersey in 2020-2024

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Percent
Earnings 80
Social Security 31.4
Retirement income 24.7
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) 4.6
Cash public assistance income 2.4

Poverty and Participation in Government Programs

In 2020-2024, 9.7 % of people were in poverty. An estimated 13% of children under 18 were below the poverty level, compared with 9.7% of people 65 years old and over. An estimated 8.5% of people 18 to 64 years were below the poverty level.

Poverty Rates in New Jersey in 2020-2024

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Percent
People in poverty 9.7
Children under 18 years below poverty 13
People 65 years old and over below poverty 9.7
People 18 to 64 years below poverty 8.5

In 2020-2024, 9.1 % of households received SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). An estimated 46.7% of households that received SNAP had children under 18, and 45.2% of households that received SNAP had one or more people 60 years and over. An estimated 34.9% of all households receiving SNAP were families with a female householder and no spouse present.


Among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in New Jersey in 2020-2024, 92.5% had health insurance coverage and 7.5% did not have health insurance coverage. Private coverage was 70.8% and public coverage was 33.1%, respectively. The percentage of children under the age of 19 with no health insurance coverage was 4.3%.


In 2020-2024, New Jersey had a total population of 9,343,809 - 4,745,416 (50.8%) females and 4,598,393 (49.2%) males. The median age was 40.1 years. An estimated 21.8% of the population was under 18 years, 32.2% was 19 to 44 years, 26.5% was 45 to 64 years, and 17.2 % was 65 years and older.

Population by Age and Sex for New Jersey in 2020-2024

Male Female
Under 5 270029 257159
5 to 9 284671 268198
10 to 14 300888 290651
15 to 19 302559 285528
20 to 24 284449 276475
25 to 29 294404 289791
30 to 34 313757 307503
35 to 39 318161 313799
40 to 44 303876 302343
45 to 49 291476 295011
50 to 54 306946 315546
55 to 59 316791 326090
60 to 64 301153 320797
65 to 69 244530 276752
70 to 74 190963 220616
75 to 79 127273 164914
80 to 84 79167 108720
85 and over 67300 125523

Hispanic Origin and Race

For people reporting one race alone, 54% were White; 12.8% were Black or African American; 2.3% were American Indian and Alaska Native; 10.1% were Asian; 4.9% were Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and 0% were Some Other Race. An estimated 12.4% reported Two or More Races. An estimated 22.5% of the people in New Jersey were Hispanic or Latino. An estimated 50.9% of the people in New Jersey were White alone, non-Hispanic. People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.


Households and Families

In 2020-2024, there were 3,507,701 households in New Jersey. The average household size was 2.62 people.

Married-couple households made up 49.8% of the households in New Jersey while cohabiting couple households made up 6.8% of households. Female householders with no spouse or partner present were 27.3% of all households, while 16.1% of households had male householders with no spouse or partner present. Some households had one person, as 11.3% of households were male householders living alone, and 15.2% were female householders living alone, for a total of 26.5% of all households.

In New Jersey, 31.2% of all households had one or more people under the age of 18; 33.1% of all households had one or more people 65 years and over.

Types of Households in New Jersey in 2020-2024

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Percent
Married-couple households 49.8
Cohabiting Couples 6.8
Male Householder
No spouse/partner present
16.1
Female Householder
No spouse/partner present
27.3

Marital Status

Among persons 15 and older, 51.8% of males and 46.9% of females were currently married.

Population 15 years and over Percent
Males
Percent
Females
Never married 37.3 32.6
Now married, except separated 51.8 46.9
Separated 1.5 1.9
Widowed 2.4 8.5
Divorced 7 10.1

Grandparents and Grandchildren

In New Jersey, 183,472 grandparents lived with their grandchildren under 18 years old. Of those grandparents, 22.1% were responsible for the basic needs of their grandchildren.


Nativity and Foreign-Born

In 2020-2024, an estimated 76.1% of the people living in New Jersey were U.S. natives. 50.8% of the New Jersey population were living in the state where they were born.

Approximately 23.9% of New Jersey residents in 2020-2024 were foreign-born. 56.2% of foreign-born were naturalized U.S. citizens and an estimated 66.7 % entered the country before the year 2010.

Foreign-born residents of New Jersey come from different parts of the world. The bar graph below displays the percentage of foreign-born from each world region of birth in 2020-2024 for New Jersey.

Region of Birth for the Foreign-Born Population in New Jersey in 2020-2024

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Percent
Latin America 48.4
Asia 31.8
Europe 12.8
Africa 6
Northern America 0.8
Oceania 0.2

Language

Among people at least five years old living in New Jersey in 2020-2024, 33.1 % spoke a language other than English at home. Spanish was spoken by 17.2% of people at least five years old; 13% reported that they did not speak English "very well."

Percentage of the Population 5 years and over who Speak a Language other than English in New Jersey in 2020-2024

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Percent
Spanish 17.2
Other Indo-European languages 8.8
Asian and Pacific Islander languages 5.1
Other languages 2.1

Geographic Mobility

In 2020-2024, 90.4 % of the people at least one year old living in New Jersey were living in the same house one year earlier.

Geographic Mobility of Residents of New Jersey in 2020-2024

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Percent
Same house 90.4
Different house, same county 4.4
Different county, same state 2.5
Different state 1.8
Abroad 0.8

Education

In 2020-2024, 90.7 % of people 25 years and over had at least graduated from high school and 43.6% had a bachelor's degree or higher. An estimated 9.3% did not complete high school.

The total school enrollment in New Jersey was 2,272,695 in 2020-2024. Nursery school enrollment was 160,362 and kindergarten through 12th grade enrollment was 1,513,845. College or graduate school enrollment was 598,488.

Educational Attainment of People in New Jersey in 2020-2024

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Percent
Less than high school diploma 9.3
High school diploma or equivalency 25.3
Some college, no degree 15
Associate's degree 6.7
Bachelor's degree 26.1
Graduate or professional degree 17.6

Disability

In New Jersey, among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in 2020-2024, 10.8 % reported a disability. The likelihood of having a disability varied by age - from 3.8% of people under 18 years old, to 8.1% of people 18 to 64 years old, and to 29.6% of those 65 and over.


Employment Status and Type of Employer

In New Jersey, 62.1 % of the population 16 and over were employed; 33.6% were not currently in the labor force.

An estimated 80.5% of the people employed were private wage and salary workers; 14.3% were federal, state, or local government workers; and 5 % were self-employed in their own (not incorporated) business.

Class of worker Number Percent
Private wage and salary workers 3,772,508 80.5
Federal, state, or local government workers 672,056 14.3
Self-employed workers in own not incorporated business 235,537 5

Industries

In 2020-2024, the civilian employed population 16 years and older in New Jersey worked in the following industries:

Percent by Industry in New Jersey in 2020-2024

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Percent
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining 0.3
Construction 6.1
Manufacturing 8
Wholesale trade 2.7
Retail trade 10.5
Transportation and warehousing, and utilities 6.6
Information 2.6
Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing 8.6
Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services 14.4
Educational services, and health care and social assistance 24.3
Arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation, and food services 7.2
Other Services, except public administration 4.3
Public administration 4.4

Occupations

Occupations for the Civilian Employed Population 16 Years and over in New Jersey in 2020-2024

Civilian employed population 16 years and over Number Percent
Management, business, sciences, and arts occupations 2,224,816 47.5
Service occupations 689,679 14.7
Sales and office occupations 932,937 19.9
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations 314,149 6.7
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations 525,724 11.2

Commuting to Work

An estimated 62.2% of New Jersey workers drove to work alone in 2020-2024, and 7.7% carpooled. Among those who commuted to work, it took them on average 30.5 minutes to get to work.

Percent of Workers 16 and over Commuting by Mode in New Jersey in 2020-2024

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Percent
Car, truck, van -- drove alone 62.2
Car, truck, van -- carpooled 7.7
Public transportation (excluding taxicab) 8.1
Walked 2.6
Other means 2.6
Worked from home 16.8

In 2020-2024, New Jersey had a total of 3,791,354 housing units. Of these housing units, 62.6% were single-family houses either not attached to any other structure or attached to one or more structures (commonly referred to as "townhouses" or "row houses"). 36.5% of the housing units were located in multi-unit structures, or those buildings that contained two or more apartments. 0.9% were mobile homes, while any remaining housing units were classified as "other," which included boats, recreational vehicles, vans, etc.

Types of Housing Units in New Jersey in 2020-2024

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Percent
Single-family houses 62.6
Apartments in multi-unit structures 36.5
Mobile homes 0.9
Boat, RV, van, etc 0

7.3% of the housing inventory was comprised of houses built since 2010, while 17.4% of the houses were first built in 1939 or earlier. The median number of rooms in all housing units in New Jersey was 5.7 rooms, and of these housing units 57.1% had three or more bedrooms.


In 2020-2024, New Jersey had 3,507,701 housing units that were occupied or had people living in them, while the remaining 283,653 were vacant. Of the occupied housing units, the percentage of these houses occupied by owners (also known as the homeownership rate) was 63.8% while renters occupied 36.2%. The average household size of owner-occupied houses was 2.75 and in renter-occupied houses it was 2.38.

3.6% of householders of these occupied houses had moved into their house since 2021, while 11.1% moved into their house in 1989 or earlier. Households without a vehicle available for personal use comprised 11.1% and another 18.3% had three or more vehicles available for use.

The following chart provides the primary fuel used to heat houses in New Jersey:

House Heating Fuel Used in New Jersey in 2020-2024

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Percent
Gas 75.5
Electricity 16.2
Fuel oil, kerosene, etc 6.4
All other fuels 1
No fuel used 0.8

In 2020-2024, the median property value for owner-occupied houses in New Jersey was $454,400.

Of the owner-occupied households, 63.9 % had a mortgage. 36.1% owned their houses "free and clear," that is without a primary mortgage or loan on the house. The median monthly housing costs for owners with a mortgage was $2,829 and for owners without a mortgage it was $1,232.

For renter-occupied houses, the median gross rent for New Jersey was $1,720. Gross rent includes the monthly contract rent and any monthly payments made for electricity, gas, water and sewer, and any other fuels to heat the house.