Cities in New Jersey by unemployed people

Newark, NJ had the highest unemployed people of 39 cities in 2021, at 13,776. Princeton, NJ had the lowest, at 548. The median was 1,710. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest13,776Newark, NJ
Lowest548Princeton, NJ
Median1,71039 cities

All cities, 2021

Newark, NJ: 13,776 personsNewark, NJ13,776Jersey City, NJ: 10,765 personsJersey City, NJ10,765Paterson, NJ: 8,566 personsPaterson, NJ8,566Elizabeth, NJ: 5,519 personsElizabeth, NJ5,519Trenton, NJ: 3,631 personsTrenton, NJ3,631Camden, NJ: 3,563 personsCamden, NJ3,563Clifton, NJ: 3,462 personsClifton, NJ3,462East Orange, NJ: 3,285 personsEast Orange, NJ3,285Union City, NJ: 3,122 personsUnion City, NJ3,122Bayonne, NJ: 2,941 personsBayonne, NJ2,941Perth Amboy, NJ: 2,843 personsPerth Amboy, NJ2,843Passaic, NJ: 2,773 personsPassaic, NJ2,773Vineland, NJ: 2,352 personsVineland, NJ2,352Plainfield, NJ: 2,327 personsPlainfield, NJ2,327Atlantic City, NJ: 2,089 personsAtlantic City, NJ2,089West New York, NJ: 2,057 personsWest New York, NJ2,057Hackensack, NJ: 1,906 personsHackensack, NJ1,906Linden, NJ: 1,797 personsLinden, NJ1,797Garfield, NJ: 1,780 personsGarfield, NJ1,780Kearny, NJ: 1,710 personsKearny, NJ1,710New Brunswick, NJ: 1,682 personsNew Brunswick, NJ1,682Sayreville, NJ: 1,647 personsSayreville, NJ1,647Hoboken, NJ: 1,309 personsHoboken, NJ1,309Lodi, NJ: 1,235 personsLodi, NJ1,235Rahway, NJ: 1,197 personsRahway, NJ1,197Fair Lawn, NJ: 1,149 personsFair Lawn, NJ1,149Millville, NJ: 1,126 personsMillville, NJ1,126Fort Lee, NJ: 1,055 personsFort Lee, NJ1,055Long Branch, NJ: 1,040 personsLong Branch, NJ1,040Englewood, NJ: 1,035 personsEnglewood, NJ1,035Carteret, NJ: 986 personsCarteret, NJ986Bergenfield, NJ: 868 personsBergenfield, NJ868South Plainfield, NJ: 811 personsSouth Plainfield, NJ811Paramus, NJ: 794 personsParamus, NJ794Cliffside Park, NJ: 783 personsCliffside Park, NJ783Bridgeton, NJ: 736 personsBridgeton, NJ736Westfield, NJ: 624 personsWestfield, NJ624Ridgewood, NJ: 587 personsRidgewood, NJ587Princeton, NJ: 548 personsPrinceton, NJ548Newark, NJ: 13,776 personsNewark, NJ13,776Jersey City, NJ: 10,765 personsJersey City, NJ10,765Paterson, NJ: 8,566 personsPaterson, NJ8,566Elizabeth, NJ: 5,519 personsElizabeth, NJ5,519Trenton, NJ: 3,631 personsTrenton, NJ3,631Camden, NJ: 3,563 personsCamden, NJ3,563Clifton, NJ: 3,462 personsClifton, NJ3,462East Orange, NJ: 3,285 personsEast Orange, NJ3,285Union City, NJ: 3,122 personsUnion City, NJ3,122Bayonne, NJ: 2,941 personsBayonne, NJ2,941Perth Amboy, NJ: 2,843 personsPerth Amboy, NJ2,843Passaic, NJ: 2,773 personsPassaic, NJ2,773Vineland, NJ: 2,352 personsVineland, NJ2,352Plainfield, NJ: 2,327 personsPlainfield, NJ2,327Atlantic City, NJ: 2,089 personsAtlantic City, NJ2,089West New York, NJ: 2,057 personsWest New York, NJ2,057Hackensack, NJ: 1,906 personsHackensack, NJ1,906Linden, NJ: 1,797 personsLinden, NJ1,797Garfield, NJ: 1,780 personsGarfield, NJ1,780Kearny, NJ: 1,710 personsKearny, NJ1,710New Brunswick, NJ: 1,682 personsNew Brunswick, NJ1,682Sayreville, NJ: 1,647 personsSayreville, NJ1,647Hoboken, NJ: 1,309 personsHoboken, NJ1,309Lodi, NJ: 1,235 personsLodi, NJ1,235Rahway, NJ: 1,197 personsRahway, NJ1,197Fair Lawn, NJ: 1,149 personsFair Lawn, NJ1,149Millville, NJ: 1,126 personsMillville, NJ1,126Fort Lee, NJ: 1,055 personsFort Lee, NJ1,055Long Branch, NJ: 1,040 personsLong Branch, NJ1,040Englewood, NJ: 1,035 personsEnglewood, NJ1,035Carteret, NJ: 986 personsCarteret, NJ986Bergenfield, NJ: 868 personsBergenfield, NJ868South Plainfield, NJ: 811 personsSouth Plainfield, NJ811Paramus, NJ: 794 personsParamus, NJ794Cliffside Park, NJ: 783 personsCliffside Park, NJ783Bridgeton, NJ: 736 personsBridgeton, NJ736Westfield, NJ: 624 personsWestfield, NJ624Ridgewood, NJ: 587 personsRidgewood, NJ587Princeton, NJ: 548 personsPrinceton, NJ548
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons
Change on 2020
1Newark, NJ13,776-22.1%
2Jersey City, NJ10,765-26.1%
3Paterson, NJ8,566-27.7%
4Elizabeth, NJ5,519-28.1%
5Trenton, NJ3,631-18.5%
6Camden, NJ3,563-16.5%
7Clifton, NJ3,462-30.8%
8East Orange, NJ3,285-24.2%
9Union City, NJ3,122-35.1%
10Bayonne, NJ2,941-30.2%
11Perth Amboy, NJ2,843-29.8%
12Passaic, NJ2,773-29.5%
13Vineland, NJ2,352-24.7%
14Plainfield, NJ2,327-20.3%
15Atlantic City, NJ2,089-48.5%
16West New York, NJ2,057-34.6%
17Hackensack, NJ1,906-30.7%
18Linden, NJ1,797-26.3%
19Garfield, NJ1,780-25.2%
20Kearny, NJ1,710-33.9%
21New Brunswick, NJ1,682-19.8%
22Sayreville, NJ1,647-22.6%
23Hoboken, NJ1,309-21.8%
24Lodi, NJ1,235-30.2%
25Rahway, NJ1,197-23.1%
26Fair Lawn, NJ1,149-27.7%
27Millville, NJ1,126-26.7%
28Fort Lee, NJ1,055-33.2%
29Long Branch, NJ1,040-25.7%
30Englewood, NJ1,035-30.4%
31Carteret, NJ986-27.9%
32Bergenfield, NJ868-33.3%
33South Plainfield, NJ811-29.7%
34Paramus, NJ794-32.7%
35Cliffside Park, NJ783-32%
36Bridgeton, NJ736-13.2%
37Westfield, NJ624-20%
38Ridgewood, NJ587-17.3%
39Princeton, NJ548-17.2%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents with no job who were available for work and had looked for work in the previous four weeks, or were waiting to be recalled from a layoff, 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. The survey definition, not a count of benefit claimants. 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: unemployment (measure 04), 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in New Jersey by unemployed people, 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in New Jersey by unemployed people, 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/unemployed-people/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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in New Jersey by unemployed people, 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/unemployed-people/new-jersey-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in New Jersey by unemployed people, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in New Jersey by unemployed people, 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/unemployed-people/new-jersey-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in New Jersey by unemployed people, 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/unemployed-people/new-jersey-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/new-jersey-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), 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 unemployed people?

Newark, NJ, with 13,776 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Princeton, NJ, with 548 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in New Jersey: more rankings