Princeton vs Trenton

A side-by-side comparison of Princeton and Trenton: population, income, housing, and more.

Princeton and Trenton are places in New Jersey. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Trenton has the higher population (89,966 vs 30,451 in Princeton). Princeton has the higher median household income ($184,113 vs $47,102 in Trenton). Princeton has the higher median home value ($1,040,400 vs $122,500 in Trenton).

Population, income & housing

	Princeton	Trenton
Population	30,451	89,966
Median age	27.5 yrs	35.4 yrs
Median household income	$184,113	$47,102
Median home value	$1,040,400	$122,500
Median gross rent	$2,448	$1,224
Housing units	9,737	35,871
Homeownership rate	56.0%	35.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	84.6%	16.7%
Unemployment rate	4.5%	10.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Princeton	Trenton
Population	31,000 → 30,451 (-1.8%)	83,412 → 89,966 (+7.9%)
Median household income	$137,672 → $184,113 (+33.7%)	$35,402 → $47,102 (+33.0%)
Median home value	$866,200 → $1,040,400 (+20.1%)	$95,800 → $122,500 (+27.9%)
Median gross rent	$1,532 → $2,448 (+59.8%)	$1,026 → $1,224 (+19.3%)

Princeton

Population

31,00030,451

Median household income

$137,672$184,113

Median home value

$866,200$1,040,400

Median gross rent

$1,532$2,448

Trenton

Population

83,41289,966

Median household income

$35,402$47,102

Median home value

$95,800$122,500

Median gross rent

$1,026$1,224

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Princeton	Trenton
Under 5	2.9%	8.0%
5 to 17	16.1%	18.6%
18 to 24	26.9%	7.7%
25 to 34	10.2%	15.2%
35 to 44	8.5%	13.2%
45 to 54	12.9%	12.5%
55 to 64	9.7%	12.5%
65 to 74	7.2%	8.0%
75 and over	5.6%	4.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Princeton	Trenton
White (non-Hispanic)	60.2%	11.5%
Black or African American	6.1%	41.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.0%
Asian	19.7%	0.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.2%
Two or more races	5.1%	2.4%
Hispanic or Latino	8.1%	44.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Princeton	Trenton
No high school diploma	1.9%	24.4%
High school graduate	4.4%	37.7%
Some college or associate's	9.0%	21.2%
Bachelor's degree	29.0%	11.8%
Graduate or professional degree	55.7%	4.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Princeton	Trenton
Drove alone	33.3%	57.3%
Carpooled	2.2%	18.7%
Public transit	6.7%	7.3%
Walked	20.0%	4.4%
Bicycle	5.1%	0.5%
Worked from home	31.7%	6.1%
Other means	1.0%	5.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Princeton	Trenton
1-unit, detached	53.1%	15.3%
1-unit, attached	18.1%	43.6%
2 to 4 units	6.6%	15.6%
5 to 19 units	8.5%	8.8%
20 or more units	13.6%	16.5%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.1%

Poverty & households

	Princeton	Trenton
Poverty rate	6.8%	24.7%
Average household size	2.58	2.70
Mean commute (minutes)	24	27
Median year structure built	1965	1950