Home to 9.34 million people, New Jersey is the 11th-largest of the 51 US states (with the District of Columbia). People, homes, work, and the shape of the local business landscape, drawn from public data.
Across New Jersey there are 3 metropolitan areas with their own profiles on this site; Trenton-Princeton, NJ is the largest at 385,864 residents.
Housing: a median home value of $454,400, 37 percent above the national figure. A $103,556 median household income puts New Jersey 28 percent above the national figure. Both figures matter for pricing and for which offers land.
Unemployment in the civilian labor force is 6.3%, 1 points above the US share. Age first: the median is 40.1, 1.2 years above the national median. Among adults 25 and over, 43.6% have at least a bachelor's degree, 8 points above the US share. Homeownership stands at 63.8%, 1 points below the US share.
One more comparison, this time with Trenton-Princeton, NJ: median income 3 percent higher than the Trenton metro figure, median home value 20 percent higher than the Trenton metro figure, business density about the same as the Trenton metro figure.
By the Census Bureau's count New Jersey supports 237,968 employer establishments. Per 1,000 people that is 25.5, in line with the national figure. 12,500 of them are home-services contractors, 5.3% of everything, about the same as the US share.
| Trade (NAICS) | Count | Per 100,000 | Index vs US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal care services (all) | 7,551 | 80.8 | 1.65× |
| Beauty salons | 3,727 | 39.9 | 1.56× |
| Landscaping services | 4,734 | 50.7 | 1.41× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 3,872 | 41.4 | 1.36× |
| Physicians' offices | 7,756 | 83 | 1.25× |
| Dentists | 4,511 | 48.3 | 1.17× |
| Electrical contractors | 2,641 | 28.3 | 1.11× |
| General freight trucking | 3,669 | 39.3 | 1.10× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 3,454 | 37 | 1.09× |
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 278 | 3 | 1.06× |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 18,701 | 200.1 | 1.06× |
| Child day care services | 2,466 | 26.4 | 1.05× |
| General automotive repair | 2,502 | 26.8 | 1.04× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 3,956 | 42.3 | 1.02× |
| Legal services | 5,189 | 55.5 | 1.01× |
| Automobile dealers | 1,248 | 13.4 | 0.93× |
| Self-storage facilities | 454 | 4.9 | 0.86× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 974 | 10.4 | 0.80× |
| Roofing contractors | 374 | 4 | 0.51× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 323 | 3.5 | 0.49× |
Ratio above 1.00: the trade holds a bigger share of the local business base than it does nationally; below 1.00, a smaller one.
More common here than nationally: personal care services, beauty salons, landscaping services and grocery stores. Personal care services lead at 7,551 establishments, 1.6 times the US share. On the other side, concrete contractors, roofing contractors and specialty trade contractors are thin: fewer establishments per resident than the US pattern. With 323 locations, concrete contractors sit at about half of the national share. Close to the national mix: plumbing and HVAC contractors, electrical contractors and road and paving contractors.
Adjusted for population, restaurants are the thickest on the ground (200.1 per 100,000), with physicians' offices and personal care services next. The most numerous of the listed trades: restaurants with 18,701 establishments, then physicians' offices (7,756) and personal care services (7,551). By sector, medical and dental practices are the most over-represented at 1.2 times the US share; automotive businesses are the least, at about the same as.
In personal care services, beauty salons and landscaping services the question is not whether to advertise but how narrowly: the tighter the keywords, the towns and the offer, the less is wasted against the crowd. Where the base is thin (concrete contractors, roofing contractors and specialty trade contractors), reach beats refinement: cover the service-plus-place searches across the whole area, because there are few competitors to split them with. Residents here are older than the US median (1.2 years above the national median); they search, read reviews and call, which puts the weight on search, the listing and the phone. Incomes 28 percent above the national figure give room for premium service tiers; ads that lead with quality and speed rather than price tend to fit.
Services for a business advertising in New Jersey, picked from the full list.
Site structure, pages and citations that earn organic placement in New Jersey.
A fast site with the services, the area served and a clear way to call or book.
A site assistant that answers questions and captures the lead at any hour.
Follow-up sequences that turn past customers into repeat ones.
Paid search that shows up when someone in New Jersey is ready to call, not just browsing.
The map listing, kept accurate, photographed and posted to every week.
One conversation about your trade, your area and your goals; then a written plan.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023.