Scotch Plains is a medium-sized township located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 24,496 people and four associated neighborhoods, Scotch Plains is the 76th largest community in New Jersey. Scotch Plains home prices are not only among the most expensive in New Jersey, but Scotch Plains real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Scotch Plains is a decidedly white-collar township, with fully 91.55% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Scotch Plains is a township of managers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Scotch Plains who work in management occupations (21.10%), business and financial occupations (13.06%), and office and administrative support (8.75%). Also of interest is that Scotch Plains 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: 23.25% 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, Scotch Plains 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. Scotch Plains is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The township’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Scotch Plains’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country. One downside of living in Scotch Plains is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Scotch Plains, the average commute to work is 33.72 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the township, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative. Although the majority of commuting trips in the township are by private automobile, Scotch Plains is somewhat unusual for a township of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the train helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Scotch Plains area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Scotch Plains, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Scotch Plains is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 67.48% 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 Scotch Plains in 2022 was $80,716, which is wealthy relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $322,864 for a family of four. Scotch Plains is an extremely ethnically-diverse township. The people who call Scotch Plains home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Scotch Plains residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Scotch Plains also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 10.60% of the township’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Scotch Plains include Italian, Irish, Polish, German, and English. Scotch Plains also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 16.70%. The most common language spoken in Scotch Plains is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Langs. of India.
