AreaProfile

Newark, New Jersey

Area Profile

310,178 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Newark, in Essex County.

56
Area Score
Bottom 24% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity114th of 139 published cities42
GrowthTop 15% of 134 published cities68
Housing affordability146th of 150 published cities34
ClimateTop 49% of 149 published cities71
Physical resilience86th of 150 published cities50
AccessTop 22% of 149 published cities99
Economic stability119th of 150 published cities43
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 6.6% and the Opportunity signal places Newark in the bottom 18%.

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 32% of median household income.

A major airport is 2 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
310,178
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$52,060
Bottom 26% nationally
Density
12,847/sq mi
24.1 sq mi of land
Median age
34.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Essex County
New Jersey
Metro area
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
Nearest major airport
EWR
2 mi · Newark Liberty Intl
Median home value
$373,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.6% is lower than 2% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.9% over the past year, to 131,424 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,772$52,060Bottom 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,021$27,193Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate23.4%Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute35.3 minTop 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher19.7%Bottom 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment131,424Bottom 41%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.3%Top 35%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.9%Top 6%June 2026
Labor force140,692Bottom 42%June 2026
Labor force participation63.0%Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$86,310Top 8%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$61,430Top 9%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-1.5%Bottom 1%June 2026
Unemployment rate6.6%Top 2%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/06114.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.6% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202452k41k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $52,060 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides644,700$39,680
Retail Salespersons202,080$38,280
Registered Nurses197,740$119,720
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners183,030$42,840
General and Operations Managers177,850$157,000
Cashiers173,830$35,950

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,392 takes 32% of median household income, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 7.2 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
32.1%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
7.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,392
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$373,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income7.18Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate24.4%Bottom 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,683121,546Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$21$1,392Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,857$373,700Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income32.1%Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.7%Bottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
68/ 100
Top 15% of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 317,303 in 2024.

79% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 8.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
2,472
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
8.0
Top 15% nationally
Year over year
−5%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
78.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024317k306k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202120222023202420252k1k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+91%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 26°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 46.6 inches, including 31.5 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEWARK INTL AP, 2.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation46.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall31.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low26°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing45°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

50 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and hurricane.

Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeElevated
HurricaneModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, strong wind, winter weather, cold wave, tornado, lightning, hail, ice storm, coastal flooding, landslide, wildfire.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 2 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Newark Liberty IntlEWR2 mi9,999 ft
John F Kennedy IntlJFK21 mi14,511 ft
New York Stewart IntlSWF54 mi11,817 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
56
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Newark

5 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
0710557,093$59,84754
0710452,266$53,97855
0710743,293$51,24254
0710337,293$51,53455
0710636,383$53,44057