City · Essex County, New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is a city in Essex County, New Jersey, part of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area. It has 310,178 residents. Newark, New Jersey has a quality-of-life score of 27 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,472 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within New Jersey it ranks #532 of 552 cities and towns. It ranks best on distance to an emergency room (low), distance to an airport (low) and public transit commuters (high). It ranks worst on high school diploma or higher (low), child poverty rate (high) and food insecurity (high).

27Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,472 of 15,651 cities and towns
New Jersey: #532 of 552 in NJ
Population: 310,178 (2020-2024)
Land area: 24 mi²
Density: 12,847.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 3451000

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
Economy13#13,602/15,631
Housing5#14,184/14,977
Health48#8,167/15,609
Healthcare58#6,637/15,650
Environment50#7,779/15,453
Education33#10,559/15,649
Infrastructure18#12,905/15,650
Community43#8,965/15,651
Leisure & amenities59#6,440/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Newark, 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
Public transit commuters · high19.3%
99/100New Jersey 8.1%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301
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
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

High school diploma or higher · low78.3%
2/100New Jersey 90.7%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Child poverty rate · high31.2%
2/100New Jersey 11.8%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Food insecurity · high37.0%
3/100New Jersey 15.0%United States 15.6%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Lack of reliable transportation · high18.2%
4/100New Jersey 7.8%United States 8.3%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Physical inactivity · high39.1%
4/100New Jersey 23.8%United States 26.5%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Average commute time · high32.6 min
4/100New Jersey 30.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013

Trends

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

PopulationRising
281,054 (2015-2019) → 310,178 (2020-2024)
+10%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
69.5% (2015-2019) → 86.4% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedImproving
4.3 /1k (2021) → 7.5 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+73%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$35,199 (2015-2019) → $52,060 (2020-2024)
+48%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Child poverty rateImproving
37.8% (2015-2019) → 31.2% (2020-2024)
−6.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Public transit commutersWorsening
25.7% (2015-2019) → 19.3% (2020-2024)
−6.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%

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, Newark, New Jersey improved on 10 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 3 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.

Improved10

Property tax−0.7 points2.37% → 1.68%
Broadband+17 points69.5% → 86.4%
Household income+48%$35,199 → $52,060
Child poverty−6.6 points37.8% → 31.2%
Poverty−4 points27.4% → 23.4%

Declined2

Uninsured+2.6 points19.1% → 21.7%
Transit use−6.4 points25.7% → 19.3%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Newark, New Jersey between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	35.2 min2015-2019	32.6 min2020-2024	−2.6 min	Improved	76%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.3%2015-2019	19.7%2020-2024	+4.5 points	Improved	64%
Broadband subscriptions	69.5%2015-2019	86.4%2020-2024	+17 points	Improved	85%
Child poverty rate	37.8%2015-2019	31.2%2020-2024	−6.6 points	Improved	74%
Effective property tax rate	2.37%2015-2019	1.68%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Improved	97%
High school diploma or higher	75.3%2015-2019	78.3%2020-2024	+3 points	Improved	68%
Home price to income ratio	7.0×2015-2019	7.2×2020-2024	+0.2×	Within the margin of error	67%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5032015-2019	0.4962020-2024	−0.007	Within the margin of error	57%
Median household income	$35,1992015-2019	$52,0602020-2024	+48%	Improved	83%
Poverty rate	27.4%2015-2019	23.4%2020-2024	−4 points	Improved	75%
Public transit commuters	25.7%2015-2019	19.3%2020-2024	−6.4 points	Declined	5%
Rent as share of income	35.9%2015-2019	33.7%2020-2024	−2.2 points	Improved	70%
Rent-burdened households	60.7%2015-2019	57.1%2020-2024	−3.5 points	Improved	68%
Unemployment rate	11.3%2015-2019	11.6%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	44%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	19.1%2015-2019	21.7%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Declined	21%

“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 Newark, New Jersey five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Newark, 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, Newark, New Jersey itself moved +6.6 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

310,178 residents (±77)

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

113,384 households (±1,785)

Newark, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Under $25k27%30,874
$25k–50k21%23,556
$50k–75k18%20,271

Homes

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

Owners and renters

113,384 households (±1,785)

Newark, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Own24%27,664
Rent76%85,720

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+2.1 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

129,145 workers (±2,715)

Newark, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Drive alone49%63,423
Carpool11%14,713
Public transit19%24,973

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 Newark'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 $161.8M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Newark, New Jersey: $522 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $161.8M; +16% vs FY2025
Per resident: $522; US $1,994
Sole-source: 7.1%; US 30%
Single offer: 4.7%; 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

Public Buildings Service$50.7M31%
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement$45.2M28%
Department of the Army$31.6M20%
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention$6.9M4.3%
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation$6M3.7%
Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$5.2M3.2%
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources$5.2M3.2%
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration$2.9M1.8%

Top recipients

CLEAR LINCS LLC$40M25%
THE GEO GROUP, INC.$38.6M24%
DONJON MARINE CO., LLC$28.5M18%
BCT PARTNERS LLC$7.5M4.6%
FEDCAP REHABILITATION SERVICES, INC$7.2M4.4%

Spending by fiscal year

64.3MFY2017
92.5MFY2018
139.4MFY2019
117.6MFY2020
70.7MFY2021
105.1MFY2022
90.7MFY2023
138.8M

Top industries (NAICS)

Investigation and security services · 5616$44M27%
Other professional, scientific, and technical services · 5419$40M25%
Other heavy and civil engineering construction · 2379$30.4M19%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$7.2M4.4%
Outpatient care centers · 6214$6.9M4.3%
Computer systems design and related services · 5415

Part of this section could not be loaded in time.

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

Newark, New Jersey's figures are part of those of Essex County, NJ ($771.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 21% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Newark 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.

Newark, 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/3451000

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends