Essex County · New Jersey
Newark, NJ jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Newark, NJ earn a median of $34,866 a year, 22% below the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 10.9% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 20.7% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $34,866#83 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 10.9%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 62%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 132,414Civilian employed, age 16+
What Newark does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance20.7%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities13%
- Professional, scientific & management12.5%
- Construction12.2%
- Retail trade9.5%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food7.1%
- Manufacturing7%
- Other services, except public administration5.6%
- Public administration4.5%
- Finance, insurance & real estate4.3%
- Wholesale trade2.4%
- Information1.2%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.1%
Related data for Newark
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.