Despite all the talk about Jersey City being the “Gold Coast” and “Wall Street West” and the presence of numerous luxury condos, a new study finds that much of Jersey City’s population are struggling on many levels.
The study, “Working Hard and Still Poor on New Jersey’s Gold Coast,” by the Garden State Alliance for a New Economy, a northern New Jersey coalition of unions and community organizations, made the following key findings based on analysis of the U.S. Census 2008 American Community Survey:
– Nearly 50% of renters in Jersey City spend more than 30% of their incomes on rent alone.
– While it took approximately $46,000 for the average Jersey City household just to “make ends meet,” an overwhelming 44.3% of Jersey City’s population had annual incomes of only $50,000 or less in 2008.
– 20 percent of the city’s residents claimed 51 percent of the income.
– 49% of Jersey City’s employed population work in traditional full-time jobs, the other half of the city’s workers are engaged in non-standard work arrangements – which often lack key benefits such as health insurance and paid vacation.
– The median household income for African Americans and Latinos were $44,769 and $36,601, significantly lower than $72,383 for White residents and $84,327 for Asian residents. – RK