Data / Rankings / Civilian labor force / Cities in New Jersey

Cities in New Jersey by civilian labor force

Jersey City, NJ had the highest civilian labor force of 39 cities in 2021, at 158,044. Bridgeton, NJ had the lowest, at 9,602. The median was 23,001. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest158,044Jersey City, NJ
Lowest9,602Bridgeton, NJ
Median23,00139 cities

All cities, 2021

Jersey City, NJ: 158,044 personsJersey City, NJ158,044Newark, NJ: 135,847 personsNewark, NJ135,847Paterson, NJ: 72,806 personsPaterson, NJ72,806Elizabeth, NJ: 65,990 personsElizabeth, NJ65,990Clifton, NJ: 47,762 personsClifton, NJ47,762Trenton, NJ: 39,027 personsTrenton, NJ39,027Hoboken, NJ: 38,934 personsHoboken, NJ38,934Bayonne, NJ: 35,211 personsBayonne, NJ35,211Union City, NJ: 34,868 personsUnion City, NJ34,868East Orange, NJ: 33,569 personsEast Orange, NJ33,569Passaic, NJ: 31,314 personsPassaic, NJ31,314Camden, NJ: 29,226 personsCamden, NJ29,226West New York, NJ: 28,255 personsWest New York, NJ28,255Plainfield, NJ: 27,215 personsPlainfield, NJ27,215New Brunswick, NJ: 27,179 personsNew Brunswick, NJ27,179Perth Amboy, NJ: 27,025 personsPerth Amboy, NJ27,025Vineland, NJ: 26,948 personsVineland, NJ26,948Hackensack, NJ: 26,458 personsHackensack, NJ26,458Sayreville, NJ: 24,180 personsSayreville, NJ24,180Linden, NJ: 23,001 personsLinden, NJ23,001Kearny, NJ: 21,690 personsKearny, NJ21,690Fort Lee, NJ: 20,367 personsFort Lee, NJ20,367Fair Lawn, NJ: 17,834 personsFair Lawn, NJ17,834Garfield, NJ: 17,781 personsGarfield, NJ17,781Atlantic City, NJ: 16,266 personsAtlantic City, NJ16,266Long Branch, NJ: 16,141 personsLong Branch, NJ16,141Englewood, NJ: 15,719 personsEnglewood, NJ15,719Princeton, NJ: 15,201 personsPrinceton, NJ15,201Rahway, NJ: 14,980 personsRahway, NJ14,980Bergenfield, NJ: 14,844 personsBergenfield, NJ14,844Westfield, NJ: 14,355 personsWestfield, NJ14,355Lodi, NJ: 13,892 personsLodi, NJ13,892Cliffside Park, NJ: 13,193 personsCliffside Park, NJ13,193Ridgewood, NJ: 12,821 personsRidgewood, NJ12,821Millville, NJ: 12,806 personsMillville, NJ12,806South Plainfield, NJ: 12,711 personsSouth Plainfield, NJ12,711Carteret, NJ: 12,184 personsCarteret, NJ12,184Paramus, NJ: 12,067 personsParamus, NJ12,067Bridgeton, NJ: 9,602 personsBridgeton, NJ9,602Jersey City, NJ: 158,044 personsJersey City, NJ158,044Newark, NJ: 135,847 personsNewark, NJ135,847Paterson, NJ: 72,806 personsPaterson, NJ72,806Elizabeth, NJ: 65,990 personsElizabeth, NJ65,990Clifton, NJ: 47,762 personsClifton, NJ47,762Trenton, NJ: 39,027 personsTrenton, NJ39,027Hoboken, NJ: 38,934 personsHoboken, NJ38,934Bayonne, NJ: 35,211 personsBayonne, NJ35,211Union City, NJ: 34,868 personsUnion City, NJ34,868East Orange, NJ: 33,569 personsEast Orange, NJ33,569Passaic, NJ: 31,314 personsPassaic, NJ31,314Camden, NJ: 29,226 personsCamden, NJ29,226West New York, NJ: 28,255 personsWest New York, NJ28,255Plainfield, NJ: 27,215 personsPlainfield, NJ27,215New Brunswick, NJ: 27,179 personsNew Brunswick, NJ27,179Perth Amboy, NJ: 27,025 personsPerth Amboy, NJ27,025Vineland, NJ: 26,948 personsVineland, NJ26,948Hackensack, NJ: 26,458 personsHackensack, NJ26,458Sayreville, NJ: 24,180 personsSayreville, NJ24,180Linden, NJ: 23,001 personsLinden, NJ23,001Kearny, NJ: 21,690 personsKearny, NJ21,690Fort Lee, NJ: 20,367 personsFort Lee, NJ20,367Fair Lawn, NJ: 17,834 personsFair Lawn, NJ17,834Garfield, NJ: 17,781 personsGarfield, NJ17,781Atlantic City, NJ: 16,266 personsAtlantic City, NJ16,266Long Branch, NJ: 16,141 personsLong Branch, NJ16,141Englewood, NJ: 15,719 personsEnglewood, NJ15,719Princeton, NJ: 15,201 personsPrinceton, NJ15,201Rahway, NJ: 14,980 personsRahway, NJ14,980Bergenfield, NJ: 14,844 personsBergenfield, NJ14,844Westfield, NJ: 14,355 personsWestfield, NJ14,355Lodi, NJ: 13,892 personsLodi, NJ13,892Cliffside Park, NJ: 13,193 personsCliffside Park, NJ13,193Ridgewood, NJ: 12,821 personsRidgewood, NJ12,821Millville, NJ: 12,806 personsMillville, NJ12,806South Plainfield, NJ: 12,711 personsSouth Plainfield, NJ12,711Carteret, NJ: 12,184 personsCarteret, NJ12,184Paramus, NJ: 12,067 personsParamus, NJ12,067Bridgeton, NJ: 9,602 personsBridgeton, NJ9,602
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Jersey City, NJ158,044-0.4%
2Newark, NJ135,847-1.3%
3Paterson, NJ72,806-1.2%
4Elizabeth, NJ65,990-1.5%
5Clifton, NJ47,762+0.4%
6Trenton, NJ39,027+0.5%
7Hoboken, NJ38,934+0.8%
8Bayonne, NJ35,211-2%
9Union City, NJ34,868-3.5%
10East Orange, NJ33,569-1.2%
11Passaic, NJ31,314-0.3%
12Camden, NJ29,226+0.3%
13West New York, NJ28,255-1.1%
14Plainfield, NJ27,215+1.4%
15New Brunswick, NJ27,179+3.4%
16Perth Amboy, NJ27,025-1.3%
17Vineland, NJ26,948+0.5%
18Hackensack, NJ26,458+0.7%
19Sayreville, NJ24,180+1.2%
20Linden, NJ23,001+0.1%
21Kearny, NJ21,690-2.9%
22Fort Lee, NJ20,367+1.4%
23Fair Lawn, NJ17,834+2.7%
24Garfield, NJ17,781+0.6%
25Atlantic City, NJ16,266-5.5%
26Long Branch, NJ16,141+3.3%
27Englewood, NJ15,719+1.1%
28Princeton, NJ15,201+2.4%
29Rahway, NJ14,980+1%
30Bergenfield, NJ14,844+1.2%
31Westfield, NJ14,355+1.4%
32Lodi, NJ13,892-0.1%
33Cliffside Park, NJ13,193+1.5%
34Ridgewood, NJ12,821+4.7%
35Millville, NJ12,806+0.1%
36South Plainfield, NJ12,711+0.6%
37Carteret, NJ12,184-0.3%
38Paramus, NJ12,067+0.6%
39Bridgeton, NJ9,602+0.8%

Other periods

About this ranking

Employed plus unemployed residents, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. Counts people where they live, not jobs: for wage and salary jobs by state use oews_employment. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average (Cities in New Jersey by civilian labor force, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in New Jersey by civilian labor force, 2021. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/new-jersey-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Cities in New Jersey by civilian labor force, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/new-jersey-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in New Jersey by civilian labor force, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/new-jersey-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_new_jersey_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in New Jersey by civilian labor force, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/new-jersey-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in New Jersey by civilian labor force, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/new-jersey-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/new-jersey-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest civilian labor force?

Jersey City, NJ, with 158,044 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Bridgeton, NJ, with 9,602 in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in New Jersey: more rankings