Mountainside is a somewhat small borough located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 6,957 people and just one neighborhood, Mountainside is the 263rd largest community in New Jersey.
Mountainside home prices are not only among the most expensive in New Jersey, but Mountainside real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.
Mountainside is a decidedly white-collar borough, with fully 90.89% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Mountainside is a borough of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Mountainside who work in management occupations (16.76%), office and administrative support (15.03%), and sales jobs (11.81%).
Also of interest is that Mountainside has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
A relatively large number of people in Mountainside telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 24.11% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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, Mountainside 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, Mountainside 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, Mountainside really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Mountainside 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.
One downside of living in Mountainside, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 36.39 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.
In Mountainside, a lot of people use the bus to get to work every day though Mountainside is a relatively small borough. Those that ride the bus are primarily traveling out of town to good jobs in other cities.
Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Mountainside, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Mountainside is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 64.79% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%.
The per capita income in Mountainside in 2022 was $79,245, which is wealthy relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $316,980 for a family of four.
Mountainside is a very ethnically-diverse borough. The people who call Mountainside home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Mountainside residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Mountainside also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 11.27% of the borough’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Mountainside include Italian, Irish, German, Polish, and Portuguese.
In addition, Mountainside has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (18.22%).
The most common language spoken in Mountainside is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
If you come to know the people here, you will recognize that you're in the company of one of the wealthiest communities in the nation. In fact, a mere 4.4% of America's neighborhoods are wealthier than the neighborhood. Real estate here is exceedingly well-maintained, and similarly, tends to maintain its value over time. The cars driven are mostly luxury brands like Mercedes, Audi, BMW, and Lexus. If the public schools aren't up to snuff, the residents of this neighborhood preferentially send their children to private preparatory schools. Vacation to Disney? Yes, but equally popular are summers in Europe. As one would expect in a considerably wealthy neighborhood such as this, also has one of the lowest ratings of child poverty in the nation.
In addition, priests and therapists would like to think they know the secrets to a truly successful marriage, but according to NeighborhoodScout's research, the folks of the neighborhood may actually hold the key. 71.2% of its residents are married, which is a higher percentage than is found in 97.2% of the neighborhoods in America.
Also, if you are planning to retire in New Jersey, this neighborhood should be on your must-see list. For many reasons, may be considered a retiree's dream neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and metrics, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety from crime compared to other neighborhoods in New Jersey, while also offering a diverse range of housing options. This, along with the vibrant mix of very educated seniors and other age groups who choose to live here, makes the neighborhood more retiree-friendly than 96.4% of neighborhoods in NJ. If a New Jersey retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit. In addition to being an excellent choice for active retirees, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for urban sophisticates and families with school-aged children.
Finally, if knowledge is power, then imagine the cumulative power of one neighborhood where many of the adults have earned an advanced degree, such as a Masters, law degree, medical degree, or even a Ph.D. This is certainly the case in the neighborhood, where 35.2% have earned an advanced degree. Compare that to the average neighborhood in America, where just 13.4% of adults have completed a post-graduate degree, and you can see why this neighborhood is a stand out. In fact, this neighborhood has a higher rate of adults with an advanced degree than 95.1% of the neighborhoods in America.
Whether walking, biking, riding, or driving, the length of one's commute is an important factor for one's quality of life. The neighborhood stands out for its commute length, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis. Long commutes can be brutal. They take time, money, and energy, leaving less of you for yourself and your family. The residents of the neighborhood unfortunately have the distinction of having, on average, a longer commute than most any neighborhood in America. 10.6% of commuters here travel more than one hour just one-way to work. That is more than two hours per day. This percentage with two-hour + round-trip commutes is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.0% of all neighborhoods in America.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Portuguese and Cuban ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 5.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Portuguese ancestry and 3.9% have Cuban ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 6.1% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Chinese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 96.0% of the neighborhoods in America.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Mountainside are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 95.6% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 59.3% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 16.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (15.0%), and 9.1% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 76.7% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Mountainside, NJ, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Italian (18.4%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (15.0%), and residents who report German roots (13.0%), and some of the residents are also of Asian ancestry (10.7%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (7.1%), among others. In addition, 18.2% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (26.8% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods. However, there is also a significant group of residents (10.6%) who commute over an hour in each direction.
Here most residents (53.3%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (11.3%) and 5.7% of residents also ride the bus for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.