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Place dossier plate
SheetNJ-HARRISON-NJ · Harrison, NJ 19,599 pop · income 64th 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 Harrison
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Harrison on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Forest Park · lowest
42,286
Forest Park · lowest
42,286 median HH income
35.8% of the leader · rank #1
Harrison · this city
82,290
Harrison · this city
82,290 median HH income
69.7% of the leader · rank #2
Tuttletown · near
82,292
Tuttletown · near
82,292 median HH income
69.7% of the leader · rank #3
De Witt · near
82,292
De Witt · near
82,292 median HH income
69.7% of the leader · rank #4
Hallsboro · near
82,292
Hallsboro · near
82,292 median HH income
69.7% of the leader · rank #5
Downingtown · near
82,292
Downingtown · near
82,292 median HH income
69.7% of the leader · rank #6
Hawthorne · highest
118,093
Hawthorne · highest
118,093 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 Harrison 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: 19,599.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Harrison - the verdict
Nationally, Harrison sits in the 64th percentile for household income and the 32nd percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
64th
percentile, household income
81st
percentile, home value
94th
percentile, median rent
32nd
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: Harrison, NJ
Harrison is a small town in New Jersey, home to 19,599 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Harrison report a median income of $82,290 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 8.7%. Home values in Harrison run a median of $450,800, and the median resident age is 33.8 years. About 49.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 68.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 97 residential building permits were authorized in Harrison (Construction Slowdown), down 92% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 1987.2 crimes per 100,000 residents, near the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 54.8°F with 50.4 inches of precipitation per year and 28.2 inches of snowfall.
New Jersey carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, New Jersey scores 108.8 (Well Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $2,132 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in New Jersey run around $275, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Commute times here average 30.0 minutes, with 30.5% driving alone and 18.6% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. 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 Harrison'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 schools and households to climate and hazard context to housing and income to reported crime to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Harrison, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count.
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. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Harrison?
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 1 public school within the city match. 49.2% 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.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 54.8°F, with 50.4 inches of precipitation and 28.2 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for New Jersey is 90.8 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
How far does income reach against housing in Harrison?
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 5.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Harrison?
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 Hawthorne (19,472 residents, $118,093 income); Tinton Falls (19,252 residents, $113,844 income); Point Pleasant (19,158 residents, $108,713 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Angleton, TX (19,597 residents); Salmon Creek, WA (19,594 residents); Mead Valley, CA (19,588 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.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Harrison?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1987.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 13% 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
1987.2
Violent rate
234.3
Property rate
1752.8
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the journey to work look like in Harrison?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 30.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 30.0 minutes.
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
30.5%
Work from home
18.6%
Public transit
29.6%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 11,153 workers age 16+.
Is Harrison growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +2,622 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +13.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 97 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.
2020 estimate
19,483
2025 estimate
22,105
Period change
+13.5%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Above median income · poverty 8.7% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
108.8 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, New Jersey average
D
City profile score · Harrison, NJ
48/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
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-
49.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C+
$82,290
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
8.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime D
234 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger 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.
Harrison profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 83/100 (A-) · 49.2%
Household income: 62/100 (C+) · $82,290
Poverty rate: 45/100 (D) · 8.7%
Violent crime: 43/100 (D) · 234 /100k
Cost of living: 10/100 (F) · 108.8 index
Where Harrison sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Harrison'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 - Harrison highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Harrison, NJ (this city): home $450,800, crime 1,987/100k
Angleton, TX : home $187,400, crime 1,206/100k
Forest Park, GA : home $119,000, crime 3,437/100k
Sartell, MN : home $278,000, crime 1,310/100k
Springboro, OH : home $330,300, crime 648/100k
Hawthorne, NJ : home $499,200, crime 895/100k
Point Pleasant, NJ : home $523,400, crime 513/100k
Palisades Park, NJ : home $704,400, crime 713/100k
How does Harrison compare to other US cities?
Here's how Harrison stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income64% higher than other cities
Home value81% pricier than other cities
Median rent94% pricier than other cities
Safety32% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just New Jersey and the picture shifts: Harrison ranks #182 of 238 New Jersey cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Harrison 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 Harrison near the bottom of New Jersey's cities
Among the 686 New Jersey cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Harrison ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Harrison only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#498 of 659
24th percentile in New Jersey
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 686
0th percentile in New Jersey
Median Home Value
#265 of 672
60th percentile in New Jersey
Poverty Rate
#123 of 680
82nd percentile in New Jersey
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#267 of 686
61st 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
64th percentile nationally for median household income · 32nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Harrison's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Harrison'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 Harrison's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$450,80019th percentilemore affordable than 19% 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
Harrison's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,541 of 15,516
More affordable than 13% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,804 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 5.5×, Harrison sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,541 of 15,516 and #2,804 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$82,290Harrison, NJ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Harrison, 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 Harrison, NJ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)49.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)68.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
19,599
Median Income
$82,290
Median Home Value
$450,800
Median Age
33.8
Poverty Rate
8.7%
Labor force participation
68.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
49.2%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1987.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
234.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1752.8
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
54.8°F
Annual Precipitation
50.4"
Annual Snowfall
28.2"
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Harrison's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
19,483 residents
2021
19,339 residents
2022
19,780 residents
2023
20,944 residents
2024
22,029 residents
2025
22,105 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
97
housing units authorized
Single-Family
22
detached homes
Multifamily
75
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
4.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1,289
32
1,257
$74.8M
2020
1,089
7
1,082
$96.7M
2021
502
0
502
$21.6M
2022
222
8
214
$10.5M
2023
88
8
80
$5.3M
2024
97
22
75
$7.0M
Permit volume decreased 92% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
30.0 minutes
Drive Alone
30.5%
Carpool
7.6%
Public Transit
29.6%
Walk
8.7%
Work from Home
18.6%
Other
5.0%
Based on 11,153 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 Harrison. 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 Harrison 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 Harrison sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Harrison 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.