Many people in Paterson take advantage of public transportation to get around. In fact, for the size of the city, the number of people who use the bus to commute to work is quite high. This helps to fill a need among Paterson citizens for affordable transportation.
The rate of college-level education in Paterson is quite a bit lower than the national average among all cities of 21.84%: just 12.47% of people here over 25 have a bachelor's degree or an advanced degree.
The per capita income in Paterson in 2022 was $23,528, which is low income relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $94,112 for a family of four. However, Paterson contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Paterson is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Paterson home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Paterson, accounting for 62.81% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Paterson residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Paterson include Jamaican, African, Italian, Irish, and Jordanian.
Paterson also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 44.12%.
The most common language spoken in Paterson is Spanish. Other important languages spoken here include English and Arabic.
