Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in New Jersey

Cities in New Jersey by employed residents

Jersey City, NJ had the highest employed residents of 39 cities in 2021, at 147,279. Bridgeton, NJ had the lowest, at 8,866. The median was 21,204. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest147,279Jersey City, NJ
Lowest8,866Bridgeton, NJ
Median21,20439 cities

All cities, 2021

Jersey City, NJ: 147,279 personsJersey City, NJ147,279Newark, NJ: 122,071 personsNewark, NJ122,071Paterson, NJ: 64,240 personsPaterson, NJ64,240Elizabeth, NJ: 60,471 personsElizabeth, NJ60,471Clifton, NJ: 44,300 personsClifton, NJ44,300Hoboken, NJ: 37,625 personsHoboken, NJ37,625Trenton, NJ: 35,396 personsTrenton, NJ35,396Bayonne, NJ: 32,270 personsBayonne, NJ32,270Union City, NJ: 31,746 personsUnion City, NJ31,746East Orange, NJ: 30,284 personsEast Orange, NJ30,284Passaic, NJ: 28,541 personsPassaic, NJ28,541West New York, NJ: 26,198 personsWest New York, NJ26,198Camden, NJ: 25,663 personsCamden, NJ25,663New Brunswick, NJ: 25,497 personsNew Brunswick, NJ25,497Plainfield, NJ: 24,888 personsPlainfield, NJ24,888Vineland, NJ: 24,596 personsVineland, NJ24,596Hackensack, NJ: 24,552 personsHackensack, NJ24,552Perth Amboy, NJ: 24,182 personsPerth Amboy, NJ24,182Sayreville, NJ: 22,533 personsSayreville, NJ22,533Linden, NJ: 21,204 personsLinden, NJ21,204Kearny, NJ: 19,980 personsKearny, NJ19,980Fort Lee, NJ: 19,312 personsFort Lee, NJ19,312Fair Lawn, NJ: 16,685 personsFair Lawn, NJ16,685Garfield, NJ: 16,001 personsGarfield, NJ16,001Long Branch, NJ: 15,101 personsLong Branch, NJ15,101Englewood, NJ: 14,684 personsEnglewood, NJ14,684Princeton, NJ: 14,653 personsPrinceton, NJ14,653Atlantic City, NJ: 14,177 personsAtlantic City, NJ14,177Bergenfield, NJ: 13,976 personsBergenfield, NJ13,976Rahway, NJ: 13,783 personsRahway, NJ13,783Westfield, NJ: 13,731 personsWestfield, NJ13,731Lodi, NJ: 12,657 personsLodi, NJ12,657Cliffside Park, NJ: 12,410 personsCliffside Park, NJ12,410Ridgewood, NJ: 12,234 personsRidgewood, NJ12,234South Plainfield, NJ: 11,900 personsSouth Plainfield, NJ11,900Millville, NJ: 11,680 personsMillville, NJ11,680Paramus, NJ: 11,273 personsParamus, NJ11,273Carteret, NJ: 11,198 personsCarteret, NJ11,198Bridgeton, NJ: 8,866 personsBridgeton, NJ8,866Jersey City, NJ: 147,279 personsJersey City, NJ147,279Newark, NJ: 122,071 personsNewark, NJ122,071Paterson, NJ: 64,240 personsPaterson, NJ64,240Elizabeth, NJ: 60,471 personsElizabeth, NJ60,471Clifton, NJ: 44,300 personsClifton, NJ44,300Hoboken, NJ: 37,625 personsHoboken, NJ37,625Trenton, NJ: 35,396 personsTrenton, NJ35,396Bayonne, NJ: 32,270 personsBayonne, NJ32,270Union City, NJ: 31,746 personsUnion City, NJ31,746East Orange, NJ: 30,284 personsEast Orange, NJ30,284Passaic, NJ: 28,541 personsPassaic, NJ28,541West New York, NJ: 26,198 personsWest New York, NJ26,198Camden, NJ: 25,663 personsCamden, NJ25,663New Brunswick, NJ: 25,497 personsNew Brunswick, NJ25,497Plainfield, NJ: 24,888 personsPlainfield, NJ24,888Vineland, NJ: 24,596 personsVineland, NJ24,596Hackensack, NJ: 24,552 personsHackensack, NJ24,552Perth Amboy, NJ: 24,182 personsPerth Amboy, NJ24,182Sayreville, NJ: 22,533 personsSayreville, NJ22,533Linden, NJ: 21,204 personsLinden, NJ21,204Kearny, NJ: 19,980 personsKearny, NJ19,980Fort Lee, NJ: 19,312 personsFort Lee, NJ19,312Fair Lawn, NJ: 16,685 personsFair Lawn, NJ16,685Garfield, NJ: 16,001 personsGarfield, NJ16,001Long Branch, NJ: 15,101 personsLong Branch, NJ15,101Englewood, NJ: 14,684 personsEnglewood, NJ14,684Princeton, NJ: 14,653 personsPrinceton, NJ14,653Atlantic City, NJ: 14,177 personsAtlantic City, NJ14,177Bergenfield, NJ: 13,976 personsBergenfield, NJ13,976Rahway, NJ: 13,783 personsRahway, NJ13,783Westfield, NJ: 13,731 personsWestfield, NJ13,731Lodi, NJ: 12,657 personsLodi, NJ12,657Cliffside Park, NJ: 12,410 personsCliffside Park, NJ12,410Ridgewood, NJ: 12,234 personsRidgewood, NJ12,234South Plainfield, NJ: 11,900 personsSouth Plainfield, NJ11,900Millville, NJ: 11,680 personsMillville, NJ11,680Paramus, NJ: 11,273 personsParamus, NJ11,273Carteret, NJ: 11,198 personsCarteret, NJ11,198Bridgeton, NJ: 8,866 personsBridgeton, NJ8,866
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Jersey City, NJ147,279+2.2%
2Newark, NJ122,071+1.8%
3Paterson, NJ64,240+3.9%
4Elizabeth, NJ60,471+2%
5Clifton, NJ44,300+4.1%
6Hoboken, NJ37,625+1.8%
7Trenton, NJ35,396+3%
8Bayonne, NJ32,270+1.7%
9Union City, NJ31,746+1.3%
10East Orange, NJ30,284+2.1%
11Passaic, NJ28,541+3.9%
12West New York, NJ26,198+3%
13Camden, NJ25,663+3.1%
14New Brunswick, NJ25,497+5.4%
15Plainfield, NJ24,888+4.1%
16Vineland, NJ24,596+3.8%
17Hackensack, NJ24,552+4.4%
18Perth Amboy, NJ24,182+3.7%
19Sayreville, NJ22,533+3.5%
20Linden, NJ21,204+3.2%
21Kearny, NJ19,980+1.2%
22Fort Lee, NJ19,312+4.3%
23Fair Lawn, NJ16,685+5.8%
24Garfield, NJ16,001+4.6%
25Long Branch, NJ15,101+6.1%
26Englewood, NJ14,684+4.5%
27Princeton, NJ14,653+3.3%
28Atlantic City, NJ14,177+7.7%
29Bergenfield, NJ13,976+4.5%
30Rahway, NJ13,783+3.9%
31Westfield, NJ13,731+2.6%
32Lodi, NJ12,657+4.3%
33Cliffside Park, NJ12,410+4.7%
34Ridgewood, NJ12,234+6.1%
35South Plainfield, NJ11,900+3.6%
36Millville, NJ11,680+3.7%
37Paramus, NJ11,273+4.3%
38Carteret, NJ11,198+3.2%
39Bridgeton, NJ8,866+2.2%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents who did any work for pay or profit in the reference week, or were temporarily absent from a job, 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, whatever the place of work, and someone with two jobs counts once. 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: employment (measure 05), 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: employment (measure 05), annual average (Cities in New Jersey by employed residents, 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: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in New Jersey by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/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: employment (measure 05), annual average. Cities in New Jersey by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/new-jersey-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in New Jersey by employed residents, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/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: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in New Jersey by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/new-jersey-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), 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: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in New Jersey by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/new-jersey-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/new-jersey-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), 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 employed residents?

Jersey City, NJ, with 147,279 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Bridgeton, NJ, with 8,866 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: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in New Jersey: more rankings