Matawan is a somewhat small borough located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 9,601 people and eight associated neighborhoods, Matawan is the 206th largest community in New Jersey. Housing costs in Matawan are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in New Jersey.Unlike some boroughs where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Matawan is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Matawan is a borough of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Matawan who work in management occupations (13.80%), office and administrative support (11.70%), and sales jobs (10.20%). Of important note, Matawan is also a borough of artists. Matawan has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Matawan’s character. Also of interest is that Matawan has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 15.78% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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, Matawan 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. Matawan’s overall crime rate ranks among the lowest in the nation, making it a very safe place to live. One downside of living in Matawan, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 30.84 minutes every day commuting to work. However, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead. Despite being a small borough, Matawan has a lot of people using the bus to get to and from work every day. Most of these people on the bus are using it to get to good jobs in other cities.The education level of Matawan ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Matawan, 42.00% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree. The per capita income in Matawan in 2022 was $53,663, which is middle income relative to New Jersey, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $214,652 for a family of four. Matawan is an extremely ethnically-diverse borough. The people who call Matawan home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Matawan residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Matawan also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 12.99% of the borough’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Matawan include Irish, Italian, German, Polish, and English. The most common language spoken in Matawan is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Other Asian languages.
