AreaProfile

Trenton, New Jersey

Area Profile

90,338 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Trenton, in Mercer County.

49
Area Score
Bottom 8% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1446th of 1,567 published cities33
Growth1248th of 1,503 published cities31
Housing affordability1013th of 1,876 published cities73
Climate989th of 1,876 published cities70
Physical resilience1266th of 1,849 published cities36
Access1502nd of 1,876 published cities83
Economic stability1556th of 1,876 published cities42
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 6.7% and the Opportunity signal places Trenton in the bottom 8%.

Its Area Score of 49 places Trenton in the top 92% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
90,338
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$52,537
Bottom 27% nationally
Density
11,877/sq mi
7.6 sq mi of land
Median age
34.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Mercer County
New Jersey
Metro area
Trenton-Princeton, NJ
Nearest major airport
PHL
35 mi · Philadelphia Intl
Median home value
$160,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.7% is lower than 5% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.4% over the past year, to 36,480 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,804$52,537Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,486$28,236Bottom 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate21.6%Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute28.5 minTop 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher16.2%Bottom 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment36,480Top 33%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.4%Bottom 26%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.4%Top 18%June 2026
Labor force39,090Top 32%June 2026
Labor force participation61.4%Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$82,560Top 15%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$63,490Top 11%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-1.5%Bottom 1%June 2026
Unemployment rate6.7%Top 5%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/06104.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.7% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202453k40k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $52,537 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 — Trenton-Princeton, NJ
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Business Operations Specialists, All Other5,570$89,370
Registered Nurses5,180$99,990
Home Health and Personal Care Aides4,920$37,760
Cashiers4,800$34,710
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand4,460$37,560
Fast Food and Counter Workers4,300$34,720

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 $1,294 takes 30% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.1 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
29.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,294
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$160,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.06Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate37.9%Bottom 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±86434,513Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$52$1,294Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,136$160,700Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income29.6%Top 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.1%Bottom 39%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
31/ 100
Ranks 1248 of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing — 4 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 1% since 2020, reaching 91,193 in 2024.

Permit activity has fallen for 4 consecutive years.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
7
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.1
Bottom 5% nationally
Year over year
+75%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202491k90k
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
202020212022202320242025734.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−93%).

Weather & climate

6 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 24°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.6 inches, including 26.6 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 TRENTON MERCER CO AP, 4.6 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation45.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall26.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low24°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing44°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

36 / 100
Physical resilience

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

Strong windHigh
Inland floodingElevated
Ice stormModerate
HurricaneElevated
EarthquakeElevated
DroughtModerate

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

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 35 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Philadelphia IntlPHL35 mi12,000 ft
Newark Liberty IntlEWR45 mi9,999 ft
Atlantic City IntlACY54 mi10,001 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
49
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Other cities in Trenton-Princeton, NJ

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
PrincetonMercer County30,75667vs Trenton

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.

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 Trenton

6 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
0861835,634$50,39048
0861131,995$56,78849
0863822,816$66,87551
0860915,938$68,23851
0862913,013$82,64655
086289,831$108,15858