Borough · Essex County, New Jersey

Caldwell, New Jersey

Caldwell is a borough in Essex County, New Jersey, part of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area. It has 9,003 residents. Caldwell, New Jersey has a quality-of-life score of 70 out of 100 (high), ranking #4,713 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within New Jersey it ranks #377 of 552 cities and towns. It ranks best on distance to an emergency room (low), distance to an airport (low) and distance to an Amtrak station (low). It ranks worst on effective property tax rate (high), child care cost burden (high) and average commute time (high).

70High

Quality-of-life score: #4,713 of 15,651 cities and towns
New Jersey: #377 of 552 in NJ
Population: 9,003 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 7,641.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 3409250

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety48#8,102/15,637
Economy78#3,406/15,631
Housing8#13,717/14,977
Health89#1,676/15,609
Healthcare72#4,459/15,650
Environment50#7,779/15,453
Education73#4,240/15,649
Infrastructure67#5,125/15,650
Community69#4,780/15,651
Leisure & amenities59#6,440/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Caldwell, New Jersey ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Essex County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Distance to an emergency room · low1.5 mi
100/100New Jersey 3.9 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesEssex County value
Distance to an airport · low6 mi
100/100New Jersey 21 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauEssex County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · low4 mi
98/100New Jersey 11 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauEssex County value
Access to exercise opportunities · high99.5%
98/100New Jersey 95.9%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEssex County value
Adult obesity · low22.6%
97/100New Jersey 29.7%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Suicide rate · low6.2 /100k
97/100New Jersey 8.0 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataEssex County value

Weaknesses

Effective property tax rate · high2.27%
3/100New Jersey 1.88%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Child care cost burden · high41.0%
7/100New Jersey 34.2%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEssex County value
Average commute time · high29.5 min
11/100New Jersey 30.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Home price to income ratio · high5.9×
12/100New Jersey 4.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Comfortable days · low23.6%
16/100New Jersey 24.9%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationEssex County value
Voter turnout · low57.9%
17/100New Jersey 67.2%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionEssex County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
7,969 (2015-2019) → 9,003 (2020-2024)
+13%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
24.1 /1k (2021) → 0.4 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−98%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
44.3% (2015-2019) → 52.1% (2020-2024)
+7.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsWorsening
94.3% (2015-2019) → 89.5% (2020-2024)
−4.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
4.8× (2015-2019) → 5.9× (2020-2024)
+23%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateWorsening
9.4% (2015-2019) → 13.9% (2020-2024)
+4.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Caldwell, New Jersey improved on 0 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 12 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined1

Broadband−4.8 points94.3% → 89.5%

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Caldwell, New Jersey between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	27.2 min2015-2019	29.5 min2020-2024	+2.3 min	Within the margin of error	25%
Bachelor's degree or higher	58.5%2015-2019	56.9%2020-2024	−1.7 points	Within the margin of error	18%
Broadband subscriptions	94.3%2015-2019	89.5%2020-2024	−4.8 points	Declined	2%
Effective property tax rate	2.36%2015-2019	2.27%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	34%
High school diploma or higher	96.2%2015-2019	92.5%2020-2024	−3.6 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Home price to income ratio	4.8×2015-2019	5.9×2020-2024	+1.1×	Within the margin of error	18%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4602015-2019	0.4572020-2024	−0.003	Within the margin of error	53%
Median household income	$96,8062015-2019	$96,8242020-2024	+0%	Within the margin of error	7%
Public transit commuters	4.2%2015-2019	6.7%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Within the margin of error	99%
Rent as share of income	28.2%2015-2019	31.4%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Rent-burdened households	44.3%2015-2019	52.1%2020-2024	+7.8 points	Within the margin of error	29%
Unemployment rate	3.4%2015-2019	4.4%2020-2024	+1 points	Within the margin of error	30%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.1%2015-2019	7.0%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	48%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Caldwell, New Jersey five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Caldwell, New Jersey in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Caldwell, New Jersey itself moved −15.4 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

9,003 residents (±26)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

3,799 households (±235)

Caldwell, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Under $25k8.9%†337
$25k–50k12%†457
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

3,799 households (±235)

Caldwell, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Own42%1,591
Rent58%2,208

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

4,786 workers (±328)

Caldwell, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Drive alone60%2,866
Carpool6.4%†305
Public transit6.7%†320

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Essex County, the county holding most of Caldwell's residents.

Essex County has 19,392 employer establishments, 223 for every 10,000 residents (0.90× the US rate of 248; 0.88× New Jersey's), with 295,575 paid employees at an average annual pay of $75,582. The Census Bureau also counts 92,261 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 19,392; 92,261 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 223; US 248 · New Jersey 253
Paid employees: 295,575
Average annual pay: $75,582; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Essex County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	1,941	22.3	1.07×About typical	20,823	$65,526	4,826
Restaurants and other eating places	1,460	16.8	0.91×About typical	17,661	$27,354	624
Specialty trade contractors	954	11	0.71×Fewer than typical	7,789	$77,484	3,580
Lessors of real estate	924	10.6	0.86×About typical	4,340	$61,328	9,842
Construction of buildings	753	8.6	1.14×About typical	3,198	$70,189	2,615
Offices of physicians	743	8.5	1.32×More than typical	6,049	$104,182	826
Limited-service restaurants	626	7.2	0.90×About typical	7,551	$23,151	239
Full-service restaurants	622	7.1	0.93×About typical	8,361	$32,364	265
Personal care services	587	6.7	1.41×More than typical	2,965	$26,829	4,342
Legal services	574	6.6	1.23×About typical	5,890	$150,118	976
Truck transportation	501	5.8	1.14×About typical	4,080	$60,198	2,692
Management, scientific and technical consulting	470	5.4	0.80×About typical	2,922	$104,779	3,541

Rank places for an industry Open Essex County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 871,153 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $160.7K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Caldwell, New Jersey: $17.85 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $160.7K; −7.1% vs FY2025
Per resident: $17.85; US $1,994
Sole-source: 1.5%; US 30%
Single offer: 11%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Defense Logistics Agency$160.7K100%

Top recipients

JOLEN SERVICES, INC.$83.5K52%
PARKS & DOCKS SUPPLY COMPANY LLC$59.4K37%
MERRIMAC INDUSTRIES, INC$17.8K11%

Spending by fiscal year

917.7KFY2017
708KFY2018
498.4KFY2019
525KFY2020
279.3KFY2021
249.1KFY2022
227KFY2023
272.6K

Top industries (NAICS)

Electrical equipment manufacturing · 3353$39.7K25%
Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing · 3344$26.6K17%
Other fabricated metal product manufacturing · 3329$21.1K13%
Communications equipment manufacturing · 3342$16.4K10%
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$12.9K8.0%
Other electrical equipment and component manufacturing · 3359$7,148

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Caldwell, New Jersey, so they do not add up across cities.

Caldwell, New Jersey's figures are part of those of Essex County, NJ ($771.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Caldwell is mostly in Essex County.

See federal money in Essex County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Caldwell, New Jersey is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

Andy KimD-

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Essex County63100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ68

Other cities and towns in Essex County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3409250

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends