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Place dossier plate
SheetNJ-KEARNY-NJ · Kearny, NJ 40,570 pop · income 65th 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 Kearny
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Kearny on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Atlantic City · lowest
36,220
Atlantic City · lowest
36,220 median HH income
27.8% of the leader · rank #1
Kearny · this city
83,212
Kearny · this city
83,212 median HH income
63.8% of the leader · rank #2
Imperial · near
83,214
Imperial · near
83,214 median HH income
63.8% of the leader · rank #3
Long Creek · near
83,214
Long Creek · near
83,214 median HH income
63.8% of the leader · rank #4
Trafalgar · near
83,214
Trafalgar · near
83,214 median HH income
63.8% of the leader · rank #5
Dexter · near
83,214
Dexter · near
83,214 median HH income
63.8% of the leader · rank #6
Bartlett · highest
130,479
Bartlett · highest
130,479 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Kearny on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 40,570.
Nationally, Kearny sits in the 65th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
65th
percentile, household income
80th
percentile, home value
94th
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Kearny, NJ
Kearny is a small city in New Jersey, home to 40,570 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Kearny report a median income of $83,212 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 8.9%. Home values in Kearny run a median of $431,700, and the median resident age is 39.2 years. 29.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 63.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 22 residential building permits were authorized in Kearny (Low Activity), per Census BPS data.
New Jersey carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 108.8 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $2,132 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts New Jersey's average monthly utility costs around $275 (state average). Commute times here average 31.7 minutes, with 64.1% driving alone and 5.3% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 90.8 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Kearny'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Kearny, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, local building permits, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Kearny?
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 5.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Kearny?
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.
Within New Jersey, the closest population matches are Fort Lee (39,818 residents, $105,535 income); Atlantic City (38,486 residents, $36,220 income); Linden (43,614 residents, $91,036 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Bartlett, IL (40,531 residents); Cedar Falls, IA (40,662 residents); Woodlawn CDP (Baltimore County), MD (40,476 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Kearny?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 64.1%. The reported mean trip to work is 31.7 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. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -825 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 22 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 downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Kearny?
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. 29.4% 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.
Poverty estimate
8.9%
Bachelor's degree+
29.4%
Matched public schools
1
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 8.9% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
108.8 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, New Jersey average
D
City profile score · Kearny, NJ
44/100
4 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.
Household income C+
$83,212
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C
29.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate D
8.9%
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.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Kearny profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 63/100 (C+) · $83,212
Bachelor's+ share: 57/100 (C) · 29.4%
Poverty rate: 44/100 (D) · 8.9%
Cost of living: 10/100 (F) · 108.8 index
How does Kearny compare to other US cities?
Kearny measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income65% higher than other cities
Home value80% pricier than other cities
Median rent94% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Kearny 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 Kearny near the bottom of New Jersey's cities
Among the 686 New Jersey cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Kearny ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Kearny only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#489 of 659
26th percentile in New Jersey
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 686
0th percentile in New Jersey
Median Home Value
#291 of 672
57th percentile in New Jersey
Poverty Rate
#116 of 680
83rd percentile in New Jersey
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#486 of 686
29th 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
65th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Kearny's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$431,70020th percentilemore affordable than 20% 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
Kearny's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,167 of 15,516
More affordable than 15% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,703 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 5.2×, Kearny sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,167 of 15,516 and #2,703 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
$83,212Kearny, NJ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Kearny, 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 Kearny, NJ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)29.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)63.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
40,570
Median Income
$83,212
Median Home Value
$431,700
Median Age
39.2
Poverty Rate
8.9%
Labor force participation
63.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
29.4%
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
Kearny's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
41,687 residents
2021
40,245 residents
2022
39,826 residents
2023
40,223 residents
2024
40,672 residents
2025
40,862 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
22
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
22
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
2
2
0
$0.0M
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
77
8
69
$3.5M
2024
22
0
22
$3.7M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
31.7 minutes
Drive Alone
64.1%
Carpool
10.4%
Public Transit
13.3%
Walk
6.0%
Work from Home
5.3%
Other
0.9%
Based on 20,827 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 Kearny. 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 Kearny 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 Kearny sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Kearny 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, 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.