In addition, Scotch Plains is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates", which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre.
Scotch Plains is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The township’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Scotch Plains’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.
In Scotch Plains, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 33.72 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit.
Like elsewhere in America, most people in Scotch Plains use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Scotch Plains‘s citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the train. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.
If knowledge is power, Scotch Plains is a pretty powerful place. 67.48% of the adults in Scotch Plains have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.
The per capita income in Scotch Plains in 2022 was $80,716, which is wealthy relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $322,864 for a family of four.
Scotch Plains is an extremely ethnically-diverse township. The people who call Scotch Plains home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Scotch Plains residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Scotch Plains also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 10.60% of the township’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Scotch Plains include Italian, Irish, Polish, German, and English.
Foreign born people are also an important part of Scotch Plains's cultural character, accounting for 16.70% of the township’s population.
The most common language spoken in Scotch Plains is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Langs. of India.
