Phillipsburg, New Jersey

Area Profile

15,299 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Phillipsburg, in Warren County.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 38% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 34% of 4,199 cities measured64
Schools2,272nd of 4,162 cities measured46
Growth3,214th of 4,224 cities measured36
Housing affordabilityTop 42% of 4,218 cities measured69
Climate2,830th of 4,225 cities measured64
Physical resilience2,559th of 4,226 cities measured47
Access3,676th of 4,226 cities measured72
Economic stability3,075th of 4,226 cities measured44
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.5% and median household income $68,324, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Warren County, NJ, which contains Phillipsburg, rather than for Phillipsburg alone.

In the public schools here, 37% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 10.6 students for every teacher.

6 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 14% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
15,299
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$68,324
Top 48% nationally
Density
4,794/sq mi
3.2 sq mi of land
Median age
39.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
New Jersey
Nearest major airport
EWR
53 mi · Newark Liberty Intl
Median home value
$193,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Warren County, NJ, which contains Phillipsburg, is 4.5% — higher than in all but 43% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Warren County, NJ, which contains Phillipsburg, grew 2.2% over the past year, to 58,268 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsWarren County, NJ’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$72,53150th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftWarren County, NJ’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$70,79248th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$11,7422024 ACS 5-Year$68,324Top 48%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,1402024 ACS 5-Year$37,628Top 38%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year20.1%Bottom 22%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.7 minBottom 40%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year24.6%Top 40%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year78.0%53rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentWarren County, NJ’s figureJuly 202658,268Bottom 49%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Warren County, NJ’s figureJuly 2026+3.0%Top 13%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Warren County, NJ’s figureJuly 2026+2.2%Top 6%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceWarren County, NJ’s figureJuly 202661,00549th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year79.8%Top 45%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageAllentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$64,090Bottom 27%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageAllentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$48,990Bottom 34%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year2.3%91st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Warren County, NJ’s figureJuly 2026−1.2%Top 7%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateWarren County, NJ’s figureJuly 20264.5%Bottom 43%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year4.5%34th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202468k57k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $68,324 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 — Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand14,840$42,380
Home Health and Personal Care Aides12,030$30,380
Registered Nurses10,860$101,440
Stockers and Order Fillers9,880$38,950
Fast Food and Counter Workers9,110$29,090
Retail Salespersons9,060$32,310

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Warren County, NJ, which contains this city.

37% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 51% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 10.6 students for every full-time teacher across 10 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
10.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
37.2%
Bottom 36% in New Jersey
Reading proficiency
51.2%
Bottom 31% in New Jersey
All 10 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Phillipsburg High SchoolPhillipsburg School District1,75012.534%55%
Phillipsburg Middle SchoolPhillipsburg School District63610.427%43%
Phillipsburg Elementary SchoolPhillipsburg School District6218.535%38%
Phillipsburg Early Childhood Learning CenterPhillipsburg School District4499.6——
Philipsburg Primary SchoolPhillipsburg School District42010.0——
Lopatcong Elementary SchoolLopatcong Township School District38911.857%57%
Lopatcong Township Middle SchoolLopatcong Township School District33511.650%59%
Pohatcong Township SchoolPohatcong Township School District31810.342%62%
Alpha Borough SchoolAlpha Borough School District2159.837%47%
Harmony Township SchoolHarmony Township School District1907.937%47%

51.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against New Jersey’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 1% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 98.9, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area is up 54% over five years, and up 4.9% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $5,140 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.66% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,895, some 62% above the $1,167 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,895 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $75,800 a year, about 111% of the median household income here of $68,324.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,167 a month.

A median home at $193,200 costs 2.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $85,942, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
98.9

Prices here run about 1% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
31.8%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,895
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,167
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$193,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Phillipsburg’s median household income of $68,324, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area’s figure202398.9Top 41%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.9%77th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+53.5%87th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+103.6%69th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.2Top 42%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year57.6%17th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3402024 ACS 5-Year6,87391st percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,527Bottom 41%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,404Bottom 38%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,895Bottom 37%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1172024 ACS 5-Year$1,167Bottom 34%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$16,4102024 ACS 5-Year$193,20052nd percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$4162024 ACS 5-Year$5,14090th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$10,3332024 ACS 5-Year$85,942Top 41%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.31%2024 ACS 5-Year2.66%98th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year31.8%Bottom 32%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±182024 ACS 5-Year1165th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%52nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.5%35th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1622024 ACS 5-Year31784th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

36/ 100
Ranks 3,214 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 1% since 2020, reaching 15,393 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 9 units authorized in 2025, against 10 the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 6 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Warren County, which contains Phillipsburg, gained about 0.5% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $72,531, close to the $70,792 of households that moved out.

At 0.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
6
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.4
Bottom 14% nationally
Year over year
−14%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202415k15k
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. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
34%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$72,531
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$70,792
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Morris County, NJ 791 people · 14% of arrivals
  2. Hunterdon County, NJ 441 people · 8.0% of arrivals
  3. Essex County, NJ 429 people · 7.8% of arrivals
  4. Northampton County, PA 346 people · 6.3% of arrivals
  5. Sussex County, NJ 332 people · 6.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Northampton County, PA 675 people · 13% of departures
  2. Morris County, NJ 512 people · 10% of departures
  3. Hunterdon County, NJ 398 people · 7.9% of departures
  4. Sussex County, NJ 226 people · 4.5% of departures
  5. Lehigh County, PA 157 people · 3.1% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Warren County, NJ. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025162.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+200%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 86°F and January a low of 22°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 47.4 inches, including 33.1 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 36, in the Good band, and about 2 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ALLENTOWN INTL AP, 14.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year562024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals47.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals33.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals22°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year22024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year362024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
36
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
56
90th percentile index
Days above 100
2
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

47 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 65% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Strong windElevated
Inland floodingElevated
HurricaneModerate
DroughtModerate
LandslideModerate
Heat waveModerate
EarthquakeModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, winter weather, lightning, ice storm, tornado, avalanche, wildfire, hail, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

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.

Violent crime
291
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,431
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Phillipsburg's police department reported 291 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,431.

Warren County has a modeled homicide rate of about 1.7 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 6.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 12.6 per 100,000 residents in Warren County.

Homicide
1.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
6.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
12.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
9.9
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Phillipsburg’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Phillipsburg (Warren County) rather than Phillipsburg itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Newark Liberty Intl at 53 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year82.0%Bottom 23%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle53 miBottom 11%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle6Top 27%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year13.2%Bottom 26%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Newark Liberty IntlEWR53 mi9,999 ft
Philadelphia IntlPHL57 mi12,000 ft
John F Kennedy IntlJFK73 mi14,511 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.

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Area Score
56
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Other cities in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
AllentownLehigh County125,97658Allentown vs Phillipsburg
BethlehemNorthampton County77,95663Bethlehem vs Phillipsburg
EastonNorthampton County29,73960Easton vs Phillipsburg
FullertonLehigh County16,72466
EmmausLehigh County11,88968
NorthamptonNorthampton County10,40064
HackettstownWarren County10,14067

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Phillipsburg side by side with a similar place.

Phillipsburg vs EastonPhillipsburg vs Endwell

Moving to Phillipsburg from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Phillipsburg

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Phillipsburg with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
0886531,427$79,949$267,20058