Get to know the MetroWest Jewish community

	For a larger view of this map, please click here.

Geography:
The geographic area of “MetroWest,” that part of New Jersey that is served by the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey, covers more than 1,132 square miles in Essex, Morris, and Sussex counties and part of Union County in northern New Jersey. Click here for a list of towns within the MetroWest Jewish community.

People:
According to the 1998 MetroWest Jewish Population Study, the number of Jewish people has stabilized since 1986 at some 120,000, out of more than 1,370,600 people in the general population.

Most MetroWest community adults are married, with 1.8 to 1.9 children per family. The local Jewish community is well educated and affluent: 36 percent have a master’s degree, compared to the U.S. average of six percent. The 1998 median income was $91,000, compared to the U.S. average of $38,000, and 85 percent own their own home.

Jewish Identity:
Almost two-thirds of married Jews in the MetroWest community are affiliated with a synagogue and nearly half of the singles are affiliated. Half of those who affiliate join the Conservative movement, 33 percent are in the Reform movement and 11 percent are in the Orthodox movement.

77 percent of MetroWest adults have had some Jewish education and almost half of 14-16 year olds have had post bar/bat mitzvah Jewish education.

30 percent of all MetroWest Jews and 40 percent of those over 65 years old said they are “extremely attached” to Israel. Almost half have traveled to Israel at least once and 27 percent expect to visit in the next two years.

The Community:
In the MetroWest Jewish community, there are 65 congregations: 24 Conservative, 21 Orthodox, 12 Reform, three Reconstructionist, one Secular Humanistic, and four that are otherwise independent of a national movement.

Jews in the MetroWest community belong to a wide variety of organizations, clubs and lodges with Jewish and/or Zionist themes, including chapters of national groups and some that are specifically local. A few examples are Hadassah, B’nai B’rith, Jewish War Veterans of the USA, and Parents of North American Israelis.

UJC MetroWest, synagogues, and local agencies work together on many projects to strengthen Jewish identity and build a dynamic Jewish community. Such efforts include the Israel Experience Initiative, which works to increase the number of high school students who participate in organized youth trips to Israel; Jewish education and cultural programs for children, adults, and families; and Project Connect, a friendly visitation program that pairs community volunteers with older adults, people with disabilities, newcomers to the MetroWest community, and children of working parents who come home to an empty house.

For additional facts and demographic information, please click here.