Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetNJ-CALDWELL-NJ · Caldwell, NJ 8,898 pop · income 78th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Caldwell
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Caldwell on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Oxford · lowest
48,135
Oxford · lowest
48,135 median HH income
31.3% of the leader · rank #1
Belle Rose · near
101,184
Belle Rose · near
101,184 median HH income
65.8% of the leader · rank #2
Mount Vista · near
101,189
Mount Vista · near
101,189 median HH income
65.8% of the leader · rank #3
Hanscom AFB · near
101,194
Hanscom AFB · near
101,194 median HH income
65.8% of the leader · rank #4
Caldwell · this city
101,196
Caldwell · this city
101,196 median HH income
65.8% of the leader · rank #5
Sitka · near
101,207
Sitka · near
101,207 median HH income
65.8% of the leader · rank #6
Whippany · highest
153,725
Whippany · highest
153,725 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Caldwell on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 8,898.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Caldwell - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Caldwell lands in the 78th percentile for household income and the 90th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
78th
percentile, household income
88th
percentile, home value
94th
percentile, median rent
90th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Caldwell, NJ
8,898 people live in Caldwell, New Jersey - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Caldwell brings in $101,196 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 3.4%. Caldwell's housing stock carries a median value of $563,000, and the median resident age is 38.5 years. About 58.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 67.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 84 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 35% from five years earlier. Caldwell reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 389.9 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
New Jersey carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts New Jersey at 108.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Above Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,132 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts New Jersey's average monthly utility costs around $275 (state average). FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 90.8 out of 100 (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Caldwell's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from comparison shortlist to schools and households to population change to housing and income to work and mobility to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Caldwell, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Caldwell?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within New Jersey, the closest population matches are Clayton (8,867 residents, $89,375 income); Whippany (8,862 residents, $153,725 income); Haledon (8,936 residents, $94,178 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Cortez, CO (8,898 residents); Greenville, MI (8,897 residents); Oxford, NC (8,897 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 58.3% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Is Caldwell growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +415 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 84 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
How far does income reach against housing in Caldwell?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Caldwell?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 65.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Drive alone
65.5%
Work from home
19.7%
Public transit
4.8%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 4,929 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Caldwell?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 389.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 83% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
389.9
Violent rate
66.8
Property rate
323.1
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share A+
58.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime B+
67 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income B+
$101,196
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate B+
3.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living F
108.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Caldwell profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 91/100 (A+) · 58.3%
Violent crime: 79/100 (B+) · 67 /100k
Household income: 77/100 (B+) · $101,196
Poverty rate: 76/100 (B+) · 3.4%
Cost of living: 10/100 (F) · 108.8 index
Where Caldwell sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Caldwell's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Caldwell highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Caldwell, NJ (this city): home $563,000, crime 390/100k
Cortez, CO : home $226,700, crime 3,399/100k
Greenville, MI : home $160,600, crime 2,929/100k
Oxford, NC : home $177,200, crime 4,429/100k
Poteau, OK : home $142,400, crime 3,231/100k
Clayton, NJ : home $244,800, crime 892/100k
Pitman, NJ : home $258,400, crime 308/100k
Boonton, NJ : home $475,300, crime 909/100k
How does Caldwell compare to other US cities?
Caldwell measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income78% higher than other cities
Home value88% pricier than other cities
Median rent94% pricier than other cities
Safety90% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at New Jersey, Caldwell ranks #37 of 238 New Jersey cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Caldwell against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to New Jersey only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
New Jersey-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Caldwell near the bottom of New Jersey's cities
Among the 686 New Jersey cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Caldwell ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Caldwell only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#369 of 659
44th percentile in New Jersey
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 686
0th percentile in New Jersey
Median Home Value
#176 of 672
74th percentile in New Jersey
Poverty Rate
#317 of 680
52nd percentile in New Jersey
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#180 of 686
73rd percentile in New Jersey
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within New Jersey only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
78th percentile nationally for median household income · 90th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Caldwell's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Caldwell's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Caldwell's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$563,00012th percentilemore affordable than 12% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Caldwell's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,658 of 15,516
More affordable than 12% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,205 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.6×, Caldwell sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,658 of 15,516 and #10,205 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$101,196Caldwell, NJ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Caldwell, NJ median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Caldwell, NJ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)58.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)67.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
8,898
Median Income
$101,196
Median Home Value
$563,000
Median Age
38.5
Poverty Rate
3.4%
Labor force participation
67.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
58.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
389.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
66.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
323.1
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Caldwell's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
8,960 residents
2021
8,885 residents
2022
8,890 residents
2023
8,980 residents
2024
9,374 residents
2025
9,375 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
84
housing units authorized
Single-Family
8
detached homes
Multifamily
76
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
9.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
130
10
120
$9.5M
2020
56
12
44
$4.5M
2021
212
11
201
$25.0M
2022
122
8
114
$13.7M
2023
107
7
100
$17.6M
2024
84
8
76
$12.0M
Permit volume decreased 35% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
65.5%
Carpool
4.8%
Public Transit
4.8%
Walk
4.1%
Work from Home
19.7%
Other
1.1%
Based on 4,929 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
New Jersey statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $275
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across New Jersey at $275 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $60 ).
These are New Jersey statewide averages, not a meter reading for Caldwell. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
New Jersey's BEA cost-of-living index is 108.8 (Well Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Caldwell is $2,132/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to New Jersey statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 90.8 / 100 (Very High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a New Jersey statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Caldwell sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Caldwell compares to similar-size New Jersey cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.