Essex Fells is a very small borough located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 2,138 people and just one neighborhood, Essex Fells is the 416th largest community in New Jersey. Much of the housing stock in Essex Fells was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic boroughs in the country.
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.
Essex Fells is a decidedly white-collar borough, with fully 94.66% 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 (32.05%), business and financial occupations (14.74%), and sales jobs (8.61%).
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: 32.54% 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.
In addition, Essex Fells is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates", which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre.
Essex Fells is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The borough’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Essex Fells’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.
In Essex Fells, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 31.57 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit.
Despite being a small borough, Essex Fells has a lot of people using the train to get to and from work every day. Most of these people on the train are using it to get to good jobs in other cities.
If knowledge is power, Essex Fells is a pretty powerful place. 81.46% 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 $122,383, which is wealthy relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $489,532 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 13.02% of the borough’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Essex Fells include Italian, Irish, German, English, and Iranian.
The most common language spoken in Essex Fells is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Slavic languages.
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Essex Fells, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
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 0.6% 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 99.6% 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. 76.3% of its residents are married, which is a higher percentage than is found in 99.3% of the neighborhoods in America.
Finally, the rate of college educated adults in the neighborhood is a unique characteristic of the neighborhood. 81.5% of adults here have received at least a 4-year bachelor's degree, compared to the average neighborhood in America, which has 35.0% of the adults with a bachelor's degree. The rate here is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.1% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
The neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 98.4% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 77.7% of the employed people here make a living as an executive, a manager, or other professional. With such a high concentration, this truly shapes the character of this neighborhood, and to a large degree defines what this neighborhood is about.
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 98.1% 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 97.6% 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.
A unique way of commuting is simply not to. And in the neighborhood, analysis shows that 32.5% of the residents work from home, avoiding a commute altogether. This may not seem like a large number, but it is a higher proportion of people working from home than is found in 96.4% of the neighborhoods in the United States. One thing NeighborhoodScout's research reveals is that the wealthier and/or more isolated the neighborhood, the greater the proportion of residents who choose to work from home.
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, 31.8% of this neighborhood's residents have Italian ancestry and 2.6% have Iranian ancestry.
Do you like to be surrounded by people from all over the country or world, with different perspectives and life experiences? Or do you instead prefer to be in a neighborhood where most residents have lived there for a long time, creating a sense of cohesiveness? NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this neighborhood stands out among American neighborhoods for the uniqueness of the mobility of its residents. More residents of the neighborhood live here today that also were living in this same neighborhood five years ago than is found in 95.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. This neighborhood is really made up of people who know each other, don't move often, and have lived here in this very neighborhood for quite a while.
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 99.4% 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.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 77.7% 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 13.4% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (5.3%), and 3.6% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 80.0% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (7.5%).
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 (31.8%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (24.9%), and residents who report German roots (13.5%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (9.3%), along with some South American ancestry residents (8.6%), among others. In addition, 10.7% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (33.8% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (57.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (6.5%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.
