Metro area · New York

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ is a metropolitan area of 22 counties in New York, New Jersey, home to 20,112,448 residents. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area has a quality-of-life score of 68 out of 100 (high), ranking #293 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in New York it ranks #18 of 27. It ranks best on public transit commuters (high), depression (low) and distance to an emergency room (low). It ranks worst on average commute time (high), severe housing problems (high) and income inequality (Gini index) (high).

68High
Quality-of-life score
#293 of 925 metro and micro areas
New York
#18 of 27 in NY
Population
20,112,448 (2025)
Land area
6,140 mi²
Density
3,275.8 /mi²
CBSA code
35620

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety61#360/924
  • Economy69#283/925
  • Housing2#909/925
  • Health98#21/925
  • Healthcare93#65/923
  • Environment16#772/917
  • Education76#225/925
  • Infrastructure77#216/925
  • Community39#566/925
  • Leisure & amenities94#52/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

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.

Metro and micro areas like New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area 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.

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).

Income

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

Homes

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

Getting to work

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

Jobs and pay

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

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.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. Kings CountyCentral county622,653,963
  2. Queens CountyCentral county592,358,182
  3. New York CountyCentral county781,664,862
  4. Suffolk CountyCentral county931,546,090
  5. Bronx CountyCentral county221,406,332
  6. Nassau CountyCentral county971,398,939
  7. Westchester CountyCentral county901,015,743
  8. Bergen CountyCentral county91977,026
  9. Essex CountyCentral county63896,379
  10. Middlesex CountyCentral county81883,335
  11. Hudson CountyCentral county66735,033
  12. Ocean CountyCentral county77673,746
  13. Monmouth CountyCentral county92651,035
  14. Union CountyCentral county80601,863
  15. Passaic CountyCentral county57531,624
  16. Morris CountyCentral county96524,251
  17. Richmond CountyCentral county69501,290
  18. Rockland CountyCentral county82357,397
  19. Somerset CountyCentral county93356,486
  20. Putnam CountyCentral county9799,028
  21. Sussex CountyOutlying county94148,063
  22. Hunterdon CountyOutlying county92131,781

States

The share of the area's residents living in each state.

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. Jersey CityPrincipal city294,078
  2. LakewoodPrincipal city69,585
  3. NewarkPrincipal city310,178
  4. New BrunswickPrincipal city56,345
  5. New YorkPrincipal city8,483,844
  6. White PlainsPrincipal city60,666

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. New York8,483,844
  2. Newark310,178
  3. Jersey City294,078
  4. Yonkers209,978
  5. Paterson158,735
  6. Elizabeth137,302
  7. Toms River94,956
  8. Clifton89,379
  9. New Rochelle82,769
  10. Mount Vernon72,427
  11. Bayonne71,553
  12. East Orange70,090
  13. Passaic70,002
  14. Lakewood69,585
  15. Union City66,463
  16. Brentwood65,042
  17. White Plains60,666
  18. Hempstead58,801
  19. Hoboken58,668
  20. New Brunswick56,345
  21. Perth Amboy55,855
  22. Plainfield55,236
  23. West New York52,004
  24. Levittown51,904

Other metro and micro areas in New York

Areas based in New York, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

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.

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