Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Garfield is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the bus helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Garfield area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.
The population of Garfield overall has a level of education that is slightly above the US average for all US cities and towns of 21.84%. Of adults 25 and older in Garfield, 22.24% have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Garfield in 2022 was $34,418, which is low income relative to New Jersey, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $137,672 for a family of four. However, Garfield contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Garfield is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Garfield home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Garfield residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Garfield also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 40.39% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Garfield include Polish, Italian, Irish, German, and Macedonian.
Foreign born people are also an important part of Garfield's cultural character, accounting for 46.57% of the city’s population.
The most common language spoken in Garfield is Spanish. Other important languages spoken here include English and Polish.
