The county economy from official statistics, with source and year on every table.
Click any dot to open that city: jobs, pay, rent, commute, county economy and climate. Dot size follows population; colours follow the state flag.
By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 07/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
Essex County is a county of New Jersey with 863,002 residents. Its economy produced $76,180 million in 2024 (ranked #3 of 21 counties) and had 349,076 jobs with an average annual pay of $88,369 (#5 for pay). The unemployment rate was 5.1% in 2026M09. It is part of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area (central county).
Essex County produced about $76,180 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 9.0% of the combined output of the 21 counties of New Jersey that BEA reports (about 9.2% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 3rd of 21 on that measure. Per resident that is $88,273, about the same as the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $90,541. In current dollars output grew 6.3% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 349,076 jobs located in Essex County on average in 2024, spread over 23,692 employer sites (about 15 jobs per site). That is 0.40 jobs for every resident, close to the 0.40 of the typical county in New Jersey, which tells you whether the county is a place people mostly commute to for work or a place they commute from. The average annual pay per job was $88,369, 11% above the average of all counties in the state ($88,369 against $79,933). Average pay is total wages divided by jobs, so it is pulled up by high earners and counts part-time jobs as whole jobs; it is not the pay of a typical worker. The number of jobs rose 2.2% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are health care and social assistance (19.7% of private jobs, $66,362 a year on average), transportation and warehousing (12.8% of private jobs, $93,187 a year on average), accommodation and food services (9.2% of private jobs, $36,746 a year on average). Together they hold 41.7% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is finance and insurance at $200,897 a year, followed by professional and technical services ($144,597). The county is specialised in an industry: transportation and warehousing (2.4 times the US share, 35,509 jobs). A location quotient above 1 means an industry employs a larger share of workers here than in the whole country, so these are the industries where local employers compete hardest for skills. Several of the biggest employers pay well below the county average: accommodation and food services ($36,746), retail trade ($45,383). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in Essex County was 5.1%, 24% above the average of the state's counties (5.1% against 4.1%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 427,804. Over the last 12 months it ranged from 4.9% (2026M04) to 7.1% (2025M09); the latest month is preliminary and BLS revises it. These county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month across years.
The median household income was $80,789 (ACS 2020–2024), 22% below the state median ($80,789 against $103,556). The guide covers 3 cities with this as the main county: Newark, East Orange, Short Hills. Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $1,392 in Newark to $3,126 in Short Hills, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to Essex County in output are Bergen County, Middlesex County, Morris County, Hudson County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 21 counties of New Jersey ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 863,002 | 3 of 21 |
| GDP 2024 | $76,180 million | 3 of 21 |
| GDP per resident | $88,273 | 9 of 21 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 349,076 | 3 of 21 |
| Average annual pay | $88,369 | 5 of 21 |
| Job change vs 2023 | +2.2% | 2 of 21 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 5.1% | 18 of 21 |
| Median household income | $80,789 | 18 of 21 |
Federal jobs in New Jersey (304) →All cities of New JerseyState guide: New Jersey
These links go to official sources and open in a new window. The first one is the government's or company's own site as listed in Wikidata (property "official website"); check it before relying on it.
Cities of this guide whose main county is Essex County.
| City ⇅ | Population ⇅ | Median household income ⇅ | Median rent ⇅ | Median home value ⇅ | Bachelor's+ ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newark | 310,178 | $52,060 | $1,392 | $373,700 | 19.7% |
| East Orange | 70,090 | $60,830 | $1,441 | $365,900 | 22.6% |
| Short Hills | 14,923 | $250,001 | $3,126 | $1,674,100 | 92.6% |
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 54,759 | 19.7% | $66,362 | 1.09 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 35,509 | 12.8% | $93,187 | 2.40 |
| Accommodation and food services | 25,623 | 9.2% | $36,746 | 0.81 |
| Retail trade | 23,832 | 8.6% | $45,383 | 0.68 |
| Professional and technical services | 21,635 | 7.8% | $144,597 | 0.89 |
| Finance and insurance | 16,552 | 6.0% | $200,897 | 1.17 |
| Manufacturing | 16,491 | 5.9% | $80,695 | 0.58 |
| Administrative and waste services | 16,065 | 5.8% | $59,377 | 0.78 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 12,428 | 4.5% | $48,697 | 1.18 |
| Wholesale trade | 11,442 | 4.1% | $111,933 | 0.83 |
| Construction | 10,308 | 3.7% | $88,690 | 0.56 |
| Educational services | 8,406 | 3.0% | $61,553 | 1.16 |
| Information | 8,032 | 2.9% | $177,711 | 1.23 |
| Real estate and rental | 6,211 | 2.2% | $67,225 | 1.15 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 5,043 | 1.8% | $67,450 | 0.86 |
| Management of companies | 4,975 | 1.8% | $189,077 | 0.85 |
| Utilities | 671 | 0.2% | $140,423 | 0.51 |
A location quotient above 1 means the industry is more concentrated here than in the US. BLS withholds sectors with too few employers.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Labour force | 427,804 |
| Employed residents | 406,041 |
| Unemployed residents | 21,763 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.1% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 349,076 |
| Employer sites | 23,692 |
Residents employed and jobs located here differ: many residents commute to other counties.
| County ⇅ | Population ⇅ | GDP 2024 ⇅ | GDP per resident ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Unemployment ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bergen County | 962,316 | $105,805 million | $109,948 | 438,240 | $80,639 | 3.5% |
| Middlesex County | 871,290 | $86,705 million | $99,513 | 430,555 | $82,400 | 4.2% |
| Essex County | 863,002 | $76,180 million | $88,273 | 349,076 | $88,369 | 5.1% |
| Hudson County | 718,323 | $65,736 million | $91,513 | 273,729 | $94,901 | 3.8% |
| Ocean County | 654,362 | $31,709 million | $48,458 | 189,912 | $57,452 | 4.0% |
| Monmouth County | 645,353 | $52,693 million | $81,650 | 274,000 | $70,560 | 3.7% |
| Union County | 579,290 | $51,947 million | $89,674 | 229,010 | $84,322 | 4.4% |
| Camden County | 527,257 | $34,620 million | $65,660 | 205,819 | $69,051 | 4.5% |
| Passaic County | 521,012 | $29,074 million | $55,803 | 170,830 | $63,668 | 4.7% |
| Morris County | 514,528 | $74,395 million | $144,589 | 298,824 | $101,208 | 3.5% |
| Burlington County | 467,805 | $40,867 million | $87,360 | 211,549 | $70,647 | 3.8% |
| Mercer County | 385,864 | $56,807 million | $147,219 | 264,154 | $90,503 | 4.2% |
| Somerset County | 349,846 | $54,494 million | $155,766 | 190,468 | $106,418 | 3.7% |
| Gloucester County | 306,954 | $19,111 million | $62,261 | 124,439 | $58,070 | 3.9% |
| Atlantic County | 276,270 | $19,423 million | $70,305 | 125,157 | $59,219 | 4.8% |
| Cumberland County | 153,305 | $8,514 million | $55,533 | 59,688 | $57,729 | 6.1% |
| Sussex County | 145,807 | $6,729 million | $46,149 | 38,360 | $58,693 | 3.7% |
| Hunterdon County | 130,160 | $9,867 million | $75,807 | 46,663 | $75,099 | 3.3% |
| Warren County | 110,849 | $6,162 million | $55,586 | 33,264 | $64,742 | 3.8% |
| Cape May County | 94,941 | $7,801 million | $82,169 | 42,713 | $48,574 | 5.1% |
| Salem County | 65,275 | $7,363 million | $112,806 | 21,587 | $67,562 | 5.1% |
863,002 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$76,180 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
5.1% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
349,076 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $88,369 (BLS QCEW).