Borough · Union County, New Jersey

Fanwood, New Jersey

Fanwood is a borough in Union County, New Jersey, part of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area. It has 7,799 residents. Fanwood, New Jersey has a quality-of-life score of 93 out of 100 (very high), ranking #1,078 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within New Jersey it ranks #125 of 552 cities and towns. It ranks best on poverty rate (low), distance to an airport (low) and poor or fair health (low). It ranks worst on effective property tax rate (high), average commute time (high) and comfortable days (low).

93Very high

Quality-of-life score: #1,078 of 15,651 cities and towns
New Jersey: #125 of 552 in NJ
Population: 7,799 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 5,821.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 3422860

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.

Safety79#3,291/15,637
Economy100#42/15,631
Housing28#10,724/14,977
Health97#517/15,609
Healthcare90#1,501/15,650
Environment41#9,120/15,453
Education85#2,304/15,649
Infrastructure96#608/15,650
Community93#1,159/15,651
Leisure & amenities70#4,630/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Fanwood, New Jersey ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Union 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

Poverty rate · low0.9%
99/100New Jersey 9.2%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Distance to an airport · low7 mi
98/100New Jersey 21 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauUnion County value
Poor or fair health · low9.8%
98/100New Jersey 15.8%United States 19.9%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Suicide rate · low5.8 /100k
98/100New Jersey 8.0 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataUnion County value
Access to exercise opportunities · high99.6%
98/100New Jersey 95.9%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteUnion County value
Public transit commuters · high10.2%
98/100New Jersey 8.1%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301

Weaknesses

Effective property tax rate · high2.26%
4/100New Jersey 1.88%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Average commute time · high41.6 min
4/100New Jersey 30.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Comfortable days · low23.8%
20/100New Jersey 24.9%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationUnion County value
Rent as share of income · high37.6%
22/100New Jersey 30.9%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071High uncertainty
Child care cost burden · high33.8%
27/100New Jersey 34.2%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteUnion County value
Rent-burdened households · high54.8%
28/100New Jersey 51.6%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
0.6 /1k (2021) → 10.6 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+1,545%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent as share of incomeImproving
51.0% (2015-2019) → 37.6% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Median household incomeImproving
$147,905 (2015-2019) → $195,529 (2020-2024)
+32%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
66.7% (2015-2019) → 73.0% (2020-2024)
+6.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Unemployment rateImproving
6.8% (2015-2019) → 2.7% (2020-2024)
−4.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Income inequality (Gini index)Improving
0.398 (2015-2019) → 0.332 (2020-2024)
−17%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483

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, Fanwood, New Jersey improved on 3 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 8 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.

Improved3

Unemployment−4.1 points6.8% → 2.7%
Inequality−0.0660.398 → 0.332
Broadband+3.1 points94.2% → 97.3%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Fanwood, New Jersey between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	40.9 min2015-2019	41.6 min2020-2024	+0.7 min	Within the margin of error	39%
Bachelor's degree or higher	66.7%2015-2019	73.0%2020-2024	+6.3 points	Within the margin of error	76%
Broadband subscriptions	94.2%2015-2019	97.3%2020-2024	+3.1 points	Improved	20%
Effective property tax rate	2.55%2015-2019	2.26%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	73%
High school diploma or higher	98.8%2015-2019	96.9%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Home price to income ratio	3.2×2015-2019	3.2×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	75%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3982015-2019	0.3322020-2024	−0.066	Improved	89%
Median household income	$147,9052015-2019	$195,5292020-2024	+32%	Within the margin of error	60%
Public transit commuters	13.5%2015-2019	10.2%2020-2024	−3.3 points	Within the margin of error	10%
Rent-burdened households	57.1%2015-2019	54.8%2020-2024	−2.3 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Unemployment rate	6.8%2015-2019	2.7%2020-2024	−4.1 points	Improved	94%

“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 Fanwood, New Jersey five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Fanwood, 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, Fanwood, New Jersey itself moved +4.2 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

7,799 residents (±56)

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

2,835 households (±134)

Fanwood, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Under $25k4.3%†121
$25k–50k7.0%†199
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,835 households (±134)

Fanwood, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Own85%2,408
Rent15%427

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

4,137 workers (±452)

Fanwood, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Drive alone62%2,560
Carpool0.8%†35
Public transit10%†421

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 Union County, the county holding most of Fanwood's residents.

Union County has 14,276 employer establishments, 244 for every 10,000 residents (0.98× the US rate of 248; 0.96× New Jersey's), with 208,505 paid employees at an average annual pay of $72,244. The Census Bureau also counts 61,956 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 14,276; 61,956 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 244; US 248 · New Jersey 253
Paid employees: 208,505
Average annual pay: $72,244; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	1,224	20.9	1.00×About typical	13,736	$70,818	2,617
Restaurants and other eating places	1,157	19.7	1.07×About typical	13,647	$25,512	579
Specialty trade contractors	937	16	1.03×About typical	6,821	$85,493	2,970
Construction of buildings	530	9	1.20×About typical	1,992	$76,194	1,952
Full-service restaurants	514	8.8	1.14×About typical	6,648	$29,063	320
Lessors of real estate	509	8.7	0.70×Fewer than typical	2,354	$66,939	6,521
Truck transportation	502	8.6	1.69×More than typical	3,799	$61,152	3,274
Services to buildings and dwellings	487	8.3	1.23×About typical	3,175	$42,216	3,443
Personal care services	467	8	1.67×More than typical	2,316	$27,328	1,841
Limited-service restaurants	463	7.9	0.98×About typical	5,053	$22,759	162
Offices of physicians	386	6.6	1.02×About typical	3,395	$127,995	340
Building equipment contractors	375	6.4	1.06×About typical	3,527	$87,998	697

Rank places for an industry Open Union County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 586,115 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Fanwood, New Jersey: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

75KFY2024
-61.4KFY2025

What was bought

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 Fanwood, New Jersey, so they do not add up across cities.

Fanwood, New Jersey's figures are part of those of Union County, NJ ($97.1M 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: Fanwood is mostly in Union County.

See federal money in Union 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.

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

House

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

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

Union County80100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ69

Other cities and towns in Union 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/3422860

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends