Paterson, NJ population, income and ZIP codes

Paterson city is a mid-size city in New Jersey, with 157,660 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #3 of 700 ranked by population — larger than 99% of them. The median age here is 33.3 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in Paterson city earn a median of $53,766 a year, 31.5% below the national figure of $78,538 and 50% below the $106,926 median for the 543 New Jersey cities we cover. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 23.6% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in Paterson city is valued at $335,400, 10.5% above the national figure and 19% below the $412,500 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,457 a month, 3.6% above the national figure, or roughly $17,484 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 32.5% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is a stretch on median earnings. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 6.2×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 26.2% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, a renter-majority market, so rent figures matter more here than the home-value line. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

Home values sit at 6.2× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.