West Orange is a medium-sized township located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 48,257 people and nine constituent neighborhoods, West Orange is the 31st largest community in New Jersey.
Housing costs in West Orange are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in New Jersey.
Also of interest is that West Orange has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
Of important note, West Orange is also a township of artists. West Orange has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape West Orange’s character.
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 15.85% 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.
One downside of living in West Orange, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 34.80 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.
Like elsewhere in America, most people in West Orange use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of West Orange‘s citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the bus. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.
If knowledge is power, West Orange is a pretty powerful place. 51.97% of the adults in West Orange 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 West Orange in 2018 was $55,406, which is upper middle income relative to New Jersey, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $221,624 for a family of four. However, West Orange contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
West Orange is an extremely ethnically-diverse township. The people who call West Orange home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of West Orange residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. West Orange also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 17.93% of the township’s residents. Important ancestries of people in West Orange include Irish, Italian, Haitian, German, and English.
Foreign born people are also an important part of West Orange's cultural character, accounting for 29.50% of the township’s population.
The most common language spoken in West Orange is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.