Westfield is a medium-sized town located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 30,559 people and five associated neighborhoods, Westfield is the 56th largest community in New Jersey. Much of the housing stock in Westfield was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country. Westfield home prices are not only among the most expensive in New Jersey, but Westfield real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Westfield is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 94.92% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Westfield is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Westfield who work in management occupations (20.86%), sales jobs (12.10%), and business and financial occupations (11.29%). Also of interest is that Westfield 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: 29.29% 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, Westfield is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are educated, wealthy, executives and professionals, who have urbane tastes in books, food, and travel, whether they actually live in a big city, or choose to reside in a small town. In big or medium-sized cities, urban sophisticates tend to frequent art institutions such as opera, symphonies, ballet, live theatre, and museums. Because of many things, Westfield is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Westfield really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Westfield perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live. In Westfield, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 33.77 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit. In addition, the town is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. Like elsewhere in America, most people in Westfield use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Westfield‘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.Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Westfield. 77.28% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%. The per capita income in Westfield in 2022 was $96,656, which is wealthy relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $386,624 for a family of four. Westfield is a very ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Westfield home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Westfield residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Westfield include Irish, Italian, German, English, and Polish. The most common language spoken in Westfield is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
