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Place dossier plate
SheetNJ-ROCKAWAY-NJ · Rockaway, NJ 6,589 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 Rockaway
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Rockaway on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Milton · lowest
53,552
Milton · lowest
53,552 median HH income
26.4% of the leader · rank #1
Romeoville · near
100,022
Romeoville · near
100,022 median HH income
49.2% of the leader · rank #2
Vineyard · near
100,022
Vineyard · near
100,022 median HH income
49.2% of the leader · rank #3
Rockaway · this city
100,028
Rockaway · this city
100,028 median HH income
49.2% of the leader · rank #4
Westborough · near
100,037
Westborough · near
100,037 median HH income
49.2% of the leader · rank #5
Bourg · near
100,043
Bourg · near
100,043 median HH income
49.2% of the leader · rank #6
North Caldwell · highest
203,140
North Caldwell · highest
203,140 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 Rockaway 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: 6,589.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Rockaway - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Rockaway places in the 78th percentile for household income and the 91st percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
78th
percentile, household income
80th
percentile, home value
94th
percentile, median rent
91st
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: Rockaway, NJ
New Jersey's Rockaway is a small town, with 6,589 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Rockaway households earn a median of $100,028 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 3.9%. Typical homes in Rockaway are valued around $427,800, and the median resident age is 45.2 years. Educational attainment runs 40.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 67.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 0 residential units were authorized in 2024 (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier. Rockaway reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 341.0 crimes per 100,000 residents, below 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). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,132 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $275 across New Jersey, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Rockaway'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 population change to reported crime to comparison shortlist to housing and income to work and mobility to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Rockaway, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, 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. Population change
Is Rockaway growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +69 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Rockaway?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 341.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 85% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Which cities make useful reference points for Rockaway?
Within New Jersey, the closest population matches are Strathmore (6,593 residents, $155,048 income); North Caldwell (6,622 residents, $203,140 income); Ramblewood (6,542 residents, $110,130 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hapeville, GA (6,590 residents); Solvay, NY (6,590 residents); Northgate, OH (6,585 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.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in Rockaway?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
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 Rockaway?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 74.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
1.1%
Work from home
15.8%
Drive alone
74.4%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 3,669 workers age 16+.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 40.4% 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.
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.
Matched public schools
1
Bachelor's degree+
40.4%
Poverty estimate
3.9%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
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.
Violent crime A+
15 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income B+
$100,028
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share B+
40.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate B
3.9%
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.
Rockaway profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 93/100 (A+) · 15 /100k
Household income: 77/100 (B+) · $100,028
Bachelor's+ share: 75/100 (B+) · 40.4%
Poverty rate: 72/100 (B) · 3.9%
Cost of living: 10/100 (F) · 108.8 index
Where Rockaway sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Rockaway'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 - Rockaway highlighted among 25 peers.Read the chart values
Rockaway, NJ (this city): home $427,800, crime 341/100k
Milton, PA : home $172,100, crime 1,549/100k
West View, PA : home $209,800, crime 991/100k
North Caldwell, NJ : home $906,100, crime 658/100k
Watchung, NJ : home $833,300, crime 4,216/100k
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 Rockaway compare to other US cities?
Rockaway 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 value80% pricier than other cities
Median rent94% pricier than other cities
Safety91% 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: Rockaway ranks #28 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 Rockaway 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 Rockaway near the bottom of New Jersey's cities
Among the 686 New Jersey cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Rockaway ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Rockaway only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#381 of 659
42nd percentile in New Jersey
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 686
0th percentile in New Jersey
Median Home Value
#292 of 672
57th percentile in New Jersey
Poverty Rate
#289 of 680
56th percentile in New Jersey
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#364 of 686
47th 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 · 91st percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Rockaway's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Rockaway'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 Rockaway's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$427,80020th 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
Rockaway's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,460 of 15,516
More affordable than 26% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,846 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.3×, Rockaway sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,460 of 15,516 and #8,846 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
$100,028Rockaway, NJ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Rockaway, 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 Rockaway, NJ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)40.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)67.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,589
Median Income
$100,028
Median Home Value
$427,800
Median Age
45.2
Poverty Rate
3.9%
Labor force participation
67.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
40.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
341.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
14.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
326.2
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
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Rockaway's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
6,562 residents
2021
6,582 residents
2022
6,578 residents
2023
6,616 residents
2024
6,616 residents
2025
6,631 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
2
0
2
$0.1M
2020
7
7
0
$0.2M
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
1
1
0
$0.1M
2023
1
1
0
$0.3M
2024
0
0
0
-
Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
74.4%
Carpool
6.4%
Public Transit
1.1%
Walk
2.3%
Work from Home
15.8%
Based on 3,669 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 Rockaway. 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 Rockaway 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 Rockaway sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Rockaway 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.