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Essex Fells, NJ

This is a small community in a single neighborhood. As throughout the site, some neighborhood-level data are reserved for subscribers.





Overview


Essex Fells is a very small borough located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 2,168 people and just one neighborhood, Essex Fells is the 416th largest community in New Jersey. Essex Fells has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic boroughs.

Essex Fells home prices are not only among the most expensive in New Jersey, but Essex Fells real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Occupations and Workforce

Essex Fells is a decidedly white-collar borough, with fully 93.60% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Essex Fells is a borough of managers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Essex Fells who work in management occupations (28.30%), business and financial occupations (14.80%), and sales jobs (9.40%).

Also of interest is that Essex Fells has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 28.90% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Setting & Lifestyle

In addition, Essex Fells is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness'. But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.

Because of many things, Essex Fells is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Essex Fells a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The borough’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Essex Fells has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Essex Fells’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.

One downside of living in Essex Fells, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 31.55 minutes every day commuting to work. However, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.

In Essex Fells, a lot of people use the train to get to work every day though Essex Fells is a relatively small borough. Those that ride the train are primarily traveling out of town to good jobs in other cities.

Demographics

If knowledge is power, Essex Fells is a pretty powerful place. 79.99% of the adults in Essex Fells have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Essex Fells in 2022 was $113,678, which is wealthy relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $454,712 for a family of four.

Essex Fells is a very ethnically-diverse borough. The people who call Essex Fells home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Essex Fells residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Essex Fells also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 12.79% of the borough’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Essex Fells include Italian, Irish, German, English, and Polish.

The most common language spoken in Essex Fells is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Slavic languages.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.

People

If you come to know the people here, you will recognize that you're in the company of one of the wealthiest communities in the nation. In fact, a mere 0.5% of America's neighborhoods are wealthier than the neighborhood. Real estate here is exceedingly well-maintained, and similarly, tends to maintain its value over time. The cars driven are mostly luxury brands like Mercedes, Audi, BMW, and Lexus. If the public schools aren't up to snuff, the residents of this neighborhood preferentially send their children to private preparatory schools. Vacation to Disney? Yes, but equally popular are summers in Europe. As one would expect in a considerably wealthy neighborhood such as this, also has one of the lowest ratings of child poverty in the nation.

In addition, if you're a regular supporter of the arts and enjoy outings to the theatre, weekend boutique-ing, or even a finely aged wine with dinner, than you're in good company with the people of the neighborhood. This neighborhood is uniquely immersed with more "urban sophisticates" than 99.7% of neighborhoods across the country. The people here truly stand out as a class among their own. They are an exclusive community characterized by refined tastes, cultural inclinations, and the means to live well. Urban sophisticates live a big city lifestyle, whether or not they live in or near a big city. They are educated executives or managers by week, and serial patrons of the arts by weekend. If this lifestyle pertains to you, than you'll certainly feel right at home in the neighborhood. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for highly educated executives and families with school-aged children.

Also, priests and therapists would like to think they know the secrets to a truly successful marriage, but according to NeighborhoodScout's research, the folks of the neighborhood may actually hold the key. 75.2% of its residents are married, which is a higher percentage than is found in 99.0% of the neighborhoods in America.

Finally, if knowledge is power, then imagine the cumulative power of one neighborhood where many of the adults have earned an advanced degree, such as a Masters, law degree, medical degree, or even a Ph.D. This is certainly the case in the neighborhood, where 42.7% have earned an advanced degree. Compare that to the average neighborhood in America, where just 13.4% of adults have completed a post-graduate degree, and you can see why this neighborhood is a stand out. In fact, this neighborhood has a higher rate of adults with an advanced degree than 97.9% of the neighborhoods in America.

Real Estate

Owner-occupied real estate dominates the neighborhood. In fact, according to NeighborhoodScout research, the percentage of residential real estate occupied by its owner is higher here than in 98.6% of neighborhoods in America.

In addition, one way that the neighborhood really stands out, is that it has more large 4, 5, or additional bedroom homes and real estate than 97.9% of the neighborhoods in America. When you walk or drive around this neighborhood, you'll instantly notice the size of the homes here which definitely makes a strong visual statement.

Occupations

Executives, managers and professionals make up 75.2% of the workforce in the neighborhood which, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is a higher proportion of such high-level people than is found in 97.8% of the neighborhoods in America. For this reason, this neighborhood really stands out as unique.

Modes of Transportation

In the neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that 28.9% of residents worked from home. This may not seem like a large number, but Scout's research shows that this is a higher percentage of people working from home than 96.3% of the neighborhoods in America. Often people who work from home are engaged in the creative or technological economy, such as is found in areas around Boston, and in Silicon Valley. Other times, people may be engaged in other businesses like trading stocks from home, or running a small beauty salon.

Diversity

Did you know that the neighborhood has more Italian and Iranian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 27.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Italian ancestry and 2.6% have Iranian ancestry.

The Neighbors

There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.

The neighbors in the neighborhood in Essex Fells are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 99.5% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.

The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.

In the neighborhood, 75.2% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 14.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (6.4%), and 3.8% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.

Languages

The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 80.2% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (7.7%).

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.

In the neighborhood in Essex Fells, NJ, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Italian (27.6%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (22.4%), and residents who report German roots (13.1%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (8.7%), along with some South American ancestry residents (8.5%), among others. In addition, 10.5% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.

Getting to Work

How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (34.0% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (58.0%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (6.4%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.


Real Estate includes:
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Neighborhood Setting
Economics & Demographics include:
Lifestyle & Special Character
Household Types
Commute To Work
Migration & Mobility
Race & Ethnic Diversity
Employment Industries & Occupations
Income & Unemployment Rate
Higher Education Attainment
Crime includes:
Neighborhood Crime Index
Crimes Per Square Mile
Property Crime Comparison
Violent Crime Comparison
Schools include:
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