Montclair is a medium-sized township located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 39,797 people and 12 associated neighborhoods, Montclair is the 43rd largest community in New Jersey. Much of the housing stock in Montclair was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic townships in the country. Montclair home prices are not only among the most expensive in New Jersey, but Montclair real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Montclair is a decidedly white-collar township, with fully 93.04% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Montclair is a township of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Montclair who work in management occupations (19.20%), business and financial occupations (10.11%), and teaching (9.47%). Of important note, Montclair is also a township of artists. Montclair has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Montclair’s character. Also of interest is that Montclair has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 32.32% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. In addition, Montclair is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates", which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre. One downside of living in Montclair is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Montclair, the average commute to work is 33.76 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the township, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative. In addition, it is also a pedestrian-friendly township. Many of Montclair’s neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. Like elsewhere in America, most people in Montclair use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Montclair‘s citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the train. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.If knowledge is power, Montclair is a pretty powerful place. 72.40% of the adults in Montclair have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns. The per capita income in Montclair in 2022 was $94,035, which is wealthy relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $376,140 for a family of four. Montclair is an extremely ethnically-diverse township. The people who call Montclair home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Montclair residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Montclair also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 10.92% of the township’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Montclair include Irish, Italian, German, English, and Polish. The most common language spoken in Montclair is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
