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Place dossier plate
SheetNJ-PENNS-GROVE-NJ · Penns Grove, NJ 4,860 pop · income 12th 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 Penns Grove
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Penns Grove on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Clay · lowest
43,884
Clay · lowest
43,884 median HH income
24.3% of the leader · rank #1
Louisville · near
43,886
Louisville · near
43,886 median HH income
24.3% of the leader · rank #2
Ontario · near
43,887
Ontario · near
43,887 median HH income
24.3% of the leader · rank #3
Penns Grove · this city
43,889
Penns Grove · this city
43,889 median HH income
24.3% of the leader · rank #4
Crofton · near
43,889
Crofton · near
43,889 median HH income
24.3% of the leader · rank #5
Oakwood · near
43,894
Oakwood · near
43,894 median HH income
24.3% of the leader · rank #6
Harrington Pa… · highest
180,515
Harrington Pa… · highest
180,515 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 Penns Grove 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: 4,860.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Penns Grove - the verdict
Penns Grove ranks in the 12th percentile for household income and the 29th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
12th
percentile, household income
34th
percentile, home value
94th
percentile, median rent
29th
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: Penns Grove, NJ
4,860 people live in Penns Grove, New Jersey - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Penns Grove brings in $43,889 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 31.0%. Home values in Penns Grove run a median of $170,100, and the median resident age is 26.1 years. About 14.6% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 42.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 1 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Stable), up 0% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2114.1 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).
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). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $2,132 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts New Jersey's average monthly utility costs around $275 (state average). 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 Penns Grove'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 population change to comparison shortlist 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 Penns Grove, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, 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. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Penns Grove?
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. 14.6% 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 Penns Grove growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +95 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Penns Grove?
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 Spring Lake Heights (4,866 residents, $102,829 income); Harrington Park (4,883 residents, $180,515 income); Flemington (4,887 residents, $74,213 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Flora, IL (4,860 residents); Carthage, MS (4,859 residents); Albertson, NY (4,859 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Penns Grove?
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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 31.0%, 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 Penns Grove?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 86.4%. 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. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Drive alone
86.4%
Work from home
1.2%
Public transit
1.8%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,298 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Penns Grove?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2114.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 7% 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
2114.1
Violent rate
574.7
Property rate
1539.4
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Low income · poverty 31.0% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
108.8 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, New Jersey average
F
City profile score · Penns Grove, NJ
10/100
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 F
14.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$43,889
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
575 /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.
Poverty rate F
31.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Penns Grove profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 19/100 (F) · 14.6%
Household income: 12/100 (F) · $43,889
Violent crime: 11/100 (F) · 575 /100k
Cost of living: 10/100 (F) · 108.8 index
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 31.0%
Where Penns Grove sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Penns Grove'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 - Penns Grove highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Penns Grove, NJ (this city): home $170,100, crime 2,114/100k
Flora, IL : home $78,400, crime 1,004/100k
Chatsworth, GA : home $199,100, crime 656/100k
Spring Lake Heights, NJ : home $648,500, crime 145/100k
Harrington Park, NJ : home $709,200, crime 212/100k
Flemington, NJ : home $372,700, crime 2,646/100k
Point Pleasant Beach, NJ : home $813,500, crime 2,351/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Penns Grove compare to other US cities?
Here's how Penns Grove stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income12% higher than other cities
Home value34% pricier than other cities
Median rent94% pricier than other cities
Safety29% 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, Penns Grove ranks #194 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 Penns Grove 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 Penns Grove near the bottom of New Jersey's cities
Among the 686 New Jersey cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Penns Grove ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Penns Grove only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#646 of 659
2nd percentile in New Jersey
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 686
0th percentile in New Jersey
Median Home Value
#646 of 672
4th percentile in New Jersey
Poverty Rate
#9 of 680
99th percentile in New Jersey
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#644 of 686
6th 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
12th percentile nationally for median household income · 29th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Penns Grove's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Penns Grove'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 Penns Grove's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$170,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 66% 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
Penns Grove's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,309 of 15,516
More affordable than 34% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,114 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.9×, Penns Grove sits in the moderate band:
national rank #10,309 of 15,516 and #8,114 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$43,889Penns Grove, NJ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Penns Grove, 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 Penns Grove, NJ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)14.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)31.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)42.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,860
Median Income
$43,889
Median Home Value
$170,100
Median Age
26.1
Poverty Rate
31.0%
Labor force participation
42.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
14.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2114.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
574.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1539.4
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
Penns Grove's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,839 residents
2021
4,844 residents
2022
4,858 residents
2023
4,876 residents
2024
4,909 residents
2025
4,934 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
1
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.1M
2020
2
2
0
$0.3M
2021
1
1
0
$0.1M
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
1
1
0
$0.2M
2024
1
1
0
$0.1M
Permit volume increased 0% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
86.4%
Carpool
3.1%
Public Transit
1.8%
Walk
2.2%
Work from Home
1.2%
Other
5.3%
Based on 1,298 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 Penns Grove. 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 Penns Grove 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 Penns Grove sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Penns Grove 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.