New Brunswick is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in New Brunswick have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. New Brunswick’s economy is one such example of this.
Not only is New Brunswick a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, shaping the character of the city into a place that is geared toward, and considered attractive to, many single, educated people. Many singles consider New Brunswick a good place to live without being in a really big city, with opportunities for friendships and fun with others like themselves.
New Brunswick has a lot of people who ride the bus to and from work. In fact, for its size, New Brunswick has quite a high level of public transit users. New Brunswick’s need for inexpensive transportation options for its citizens is quite high.
The population of New Brunswick overall has a level of education that is slightly above the US average for all US cities and towns of 21.84%. Of adults 25 and older in New Brunswick, 24.33% have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in New Brunswick in 2022 was $24,057, which is low income relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $96,228 for a family of four. However, New Brunswick contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. New Brunswick also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 31.88% of its population below the federal poverty line.
New Brunswick is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call New Brunswick home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in New Brunswick, accounting for 46.88% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of New Brunswick residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in New Brunswick include Italian, Irish, German, Polish, and Guyanese.
New Brunswick also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 33.77%.
The most common language spoken in New Brunswick is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
