One downside of living in Plainfield, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 30.60 minutes every day commuting to work. It is, however, a pedestrian-friendly city. Many of its neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. In addition, 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.
Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Plainfield is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, taxis helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Plainfield area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.
The citizens of Plainfield are slightly better educated than the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns, with 22.99% of adults in Plainfield having a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Plainfield in 2018 was $28,788, which is low income relative to New Jersey, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $115,152 for a family of four. However, Plainfield contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Plainfield is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Plainfield home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Plainfield, accounting for 52.36% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Plainfield residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Plainfield include Jamaican, Haitian, Trinidadian and Tobagonian, Italian, and African.
In addition, Plainfield has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (39.26%).
The most common language spoken in Plainfield is Spanish. Other important languages spoken here include English and French.
