Paterson, New Jersey demographics

Paterson, NJ demographics: median age 33.3; 11.8% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Paterson city, New Jersey · Incorporated city · GEOID 3457000. The survey estimates a population of 158,735 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Paterson is 33.3 years, with a 90% margin of error of 0.6 years. There are 49,865 households (±989). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	33.3 ±0.6	40.1 ±0.1	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 158,735
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New Jersey	U.S.
Under 18	43,898 ±1,507	27.7% ±0.9 pp	21.8%	22.0%
18–34	38,943 ±1,322	24.5% ±0.8 pp	21.3%	22.8%
35–64	56,607 ±1,771	35.7% ±1.1 pp	39.7%	38.0%
65 and older	19,287 ±1,159	12.2% ±0.7 pp	17.2%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 158,735
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New Jersey	U.S.
Male	78,143 ±1,123	49.2% ±0.7 pp	49.2%	49.5%
Female	80,592 ±1,122	50.8% ±0.7 pp	50.8%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 158,735
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New Jersey	U.S.
White alone	17,315 ±1,463	10.9% ±0.9 pp	54.0%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	35,947 ±1,680	22.6% ±1.1 pp	12.8%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	812 ±311	0.5% ±0.2 pp	0.6%	0.9%
Asian alone	6,599 ±985	4.2% ±0.6 pp	10.1%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	36 ±37 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.0%	0.2%
Some other race alone	59,765 ±3,202	37.7% ±2.0 pp	10.1%	7.1%
Two or more races	38,261 ±3,018	24.1% ±1.9 pp	12.4%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 158,735
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New Jersey	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	56,299 ±2,144	35.5% ±1.4 pp	77.5%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	102,436 ±2,161	64.5% ±1.4 pp	22.5%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 49,865
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New Jersey	U.S.
Married-couple family	16,790 ±941	33.7% ±1.8 pp	49.8%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	4,633 ±530	9.3% ±1.0 pp	5.1%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	15,067 ±927	30.2% ±1.8 pp	12.9%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	11,024 ±901	22.1% ±1.8 pp	26.4%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	2,351 ±462	4.7% ±0.9 pp	5.8%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 49,865
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New Jersey	U.S.
Households with people under 18	21,962 ±740	44.0% ±1.2 pp	31.2%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	27,903 ±1,210	56.0% ±2.2 pp	68.8%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 49,865
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New Jersey	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	11,024 ±901	22.1% ±1.8 pp	26.4%	28.7%
Two-person households	11,522 ±1,001	23.1% ±2.0 pp	31.1%	33.8%
Three-person households	9,316 ±823	18.7% ±1.6 pp	17.1%	15.3%
Four-person households	8,509 ±760	17.1% ±1.5 pp	15.2%	12.6%
Five-person households	5,055 ±529	10.1% ±1.0 pp	6.3%	5.9%
Six-person households	2,366 ±350	4.7% ±0.7 pp	2.3%	2.2%
Seven or more people	2,073 ±335	4.2% ±0.7 pp	1.6%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 158,735
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New Jersey	U.S.
Native	87,884 ±2,276	55.4% ±1.4 pp	76.1%	85.9%
Foreign born	70,851 ±2,278	44.6% ±1.4 pp	23.9%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 146,108
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New Jersey	U.S.
English only	47,727 ±2,138	32.7% ±1.5 pp	66.9%	77.7%
Spanish	84,759 ±2,491	58.0% ±1.7 pp	17.2%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	847 ±500 · low precision	0.6% ±0.3 pp · low precision	1.1%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	123 ±161 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	329 ±235 · low precision	0.2% ±0.2 pp · low precision	1.7%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	6,133 ±964	4.2% ±0.7 pp	5.6%	2.0%
Korean	175 ±133 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.9%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	20 ±31 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	1.5%	1.1%
Vietnamese	0 ±33 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	4 ±9 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.9%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	1,170 ±525	0.8% ±0.4 pp	1.6%	1.1%
Arabic	3,948 ±1,021	2.7% ±0.7 pp	0.9%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	873 ±413	0.6% ±0.3 pp	1.1%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 99,100
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New Jersey	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	25,571 ±1,510	25.8% ±1.5 pp	9.3%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	40,356 ±1,894	40.7% ±1.8 pp	25.3%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	16,443 ±1,086	16.6% ±1.1 pp	15.0%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	5,016 ±609	5.1% ±0.6 pp	6.7%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	8,740 ±816	8.8% ±0.8 pp	26.1%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	2,974 ±458	3.0% ±0.5 pp	17.6%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 156,874
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	New Jersey	U.S.
Same house	144,299 ±1,908	92.0% ±1.2 pp	90.4%	87.7%
Moved within same county	8,235 ±1,508	5.2% ±1.0 pp	4.4%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	1,430 ±481	0.9% ±0.3 pp	2.5%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	567 ±257	0.4% ±0.2 pp	1.8%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	2,343 ±713	1.5% ±0.5 pp	0.8%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

19.5% of Paterson residents (±1.1 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 7.5% in New Jersey and 8.4% nationally. 89.3% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Paterson	New Jersey	U.S.	Compared with New Jersey
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	19.5% ±1.1 pp	7.5%	8.4%	Higher
Households with a broadband subscription Households	89.3% ±1.2 pp	92.8%	91.0%	Lower
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	1.4% ±0.4 pp	3.7%	6.2%	Lower

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Paterson . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Paterson housing and cost context or return to the city profile.