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Place dossier plate
SheetNJ-MONTCLAIR-STATE-UNIVERSITY-NJ · Montclair State University, NJ 2,177 pop
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Montclair State University 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: 2,177.
2,177 people call Montclair State University, New Jersey home. Source: Census ACS.
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: Montclair State University, NJ
New Jersey's Montclair State University is a small town, with 2,177 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The median resident age is 20.0 years. About 83.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 46.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. 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). Natural-hazard exposure scores 90.8 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Montclair State University'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Montclair State University, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Montclair State University?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 36.7%. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Montclair State University?
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 Ramapo College of New Jersey (2,163 residents); Ogdensburg (2,231 residents, $104,946 income); Vista Center (2,235 residents, $131,194 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lakeview, CA (2,177 residents); Fremont, IN (2,177 residents); West Branch, MI (2,177 residents). These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
City profile score · Montclair State University, NJ
49/100
2 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+
83.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
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.
Household income N/A
N/A
No ACS median household income on file for this place.
Poverty rate N/A
N/A
No ACS poverty rate on file for this place.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
How does Montclair State University compare to other US cities?
Here's how Montclair State University stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
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 Montclair State University 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 Montclair State University near the bottom of New Jersey's cities
Among the 686 New Jersey cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Montclair State University ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Montclair State University only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 686
0th percentile in New Jersey
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#13 of 686
98th 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.
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Montclair State University in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)83.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Labor force participation (adults 16+)46.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,177
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
20.0
Poverty Rate
N/A
Labor force participation
46.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
83.5%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
36.7%
Carpool
3.0%
Public Transit
12.6%
Walk
26.2%
Work from Home
17.8%
Other
3.7%
Based on 854 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 Montclair State University. 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 Montclair State University 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 Montclair State University sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Montclair State University 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, 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.