08638Trenton, New Jersey

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 08638.

47out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 8% of 5,298 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity4945th of 6,210 ZIP areas measured40
Schools3428th of 4,422 ZIP areas measured30
Growth4428th of 5,428 ZIP areas measured31
Housing affordability4480th of 6,685 ZIP areas measured68
Climate3462nd of 6,789 ZIP areas measured70
Physical resilience4771st of 6,709 ZIP areas measured36
Access5173rd of 6,791 ZIP areas measured82
Economic stability5066th of 6,742 ZIP areas measured44
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 6.7% and the Opportunity signal places 08638 in the bottom 20%.

In the public schools here, 8% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.2 students for every teacher.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, hurricane and strong wind.

At a glance

Population
22,816
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$66,875
Bottom 42% nationally
Density
4,204/sq mi
5.4 sq mi of land
Median age
35.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Trenton
New Jersey
Metro area
Trenton-Princeton, NJ
Nearest major airport
PHL
37 mi · Philadelphia Intl
Median home value
$245,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.7% is lower than 4% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

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

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$6,861$66,875Bottom 42%of 31,2952024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,648$34,445Bottom 42%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate17.8%Top 23%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute27.2 minBottom 47%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher32.3%Top 30%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment36,480Bottom 37%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.4%Bottom 27%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.4%Top 22%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force39,090Bottom 37%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation63.5%Top 39%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$82,560Top 13%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Median annual wage$63,490Top 9%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-1.5%Bottom 1%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate6.7%Top 4%of 6,544June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202467k60k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $66,875 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Trenton, NJ, the city containing this ZIP code.

8% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 25% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.2 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
8.3%
Bottom 22% in New Jersey
Reading proficiency
24.8%
Bottom 11% in New Jersey
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
William L Antheil Elementary SchoolEwing Township School District74611.114%22%
Dr. Martin Luther King Middle SchoolTrenton Public School District65013.3
Paul Robeson Charter School for the Humanities · charterPaul Robeson Charter School for the Humanities54516.56%34%
Luis Munoz-Rivera Elementary SchoolTrenton Public School District46814.2
The Village Charter School · charterThe Village Charter School36111.66%38%
Dr. Crosby Copeland Jr ElementaryTrenton Public School District35313.65%18%
Darlene C. McKnight ElementaryTrenton Public School District35014.05%9%

78.0% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against New Jersey’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Prices for everything a household buys run about 2% above the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.

Median rent of $1,593 takes 29% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.7 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Cost of living
102.4

Prices here run about 2% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Rent as a share of income
28.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,593
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$245,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index102.4Top 43%of 6,0712023
Home price to income3.67Top 35%of 30,4042024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate58.0%Bottom 14%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±47810,053Top 16%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$84$1,593Top 19%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$16,326$245,100Top 43%of 30,9412024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income28.6%Top 7%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate10.0%Bottom 46%of 33,0282024 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 4428 of 5,428 published city profiles

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.

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 ZIP areas.

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

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Trenton, NJ, the city containing this ZIP code.

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.

Air quality measures a median index of 43, in the Good band, and about 5 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 TRENTON MERCER CO AP, 3.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index71.02024 calendar year
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
Days above AQI 10052024 calendar year
Median air quality index43.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing44°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
71
90th percentile index
Days above 100
5
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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

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. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Mercer County records 4.5 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 5.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 23.8 per 100,000 residents in Mercer County.

Homicide
4.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
5.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
23.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
7.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Mercer County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 08638 rather than 08638 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 37 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Philadelphia IntlPHL37 mi12,000 ft
Newark Liberty IntlEWR44 mi9,999 ft
Atlantic City IntlACY56 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
47
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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)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
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)
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)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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.

08638 vs Trenton

How this ZIP area compares with Trenton as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

08638
Trenton
Median household income
$66,875
vs
$52,537
Per capita income
$34,445
vs
$28,236
Population density
4,204/sq mi
vs
11,877/sq mi
Median home value
$245,100
vs
$160,700
Median gross rent
$1,593
vs
$1,294
Homeownership rate
58.0%
vs
37.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher
32.3%
vs
16.2%
Poverty rate
17.8%
vs
21.6%
Median age
35.9
vs
34.8

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.