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ZIP Code08544

Princeton, NJ

Mercer County · New Jersey · United States
Home to 4,548 people across 0.166 square miles.

EasternTop 5% densityTop 10% degree-holdersRenter-majority39 ZIPs in county

At a glance

08544 by the numbers

Every figure below comes from the 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the Census Gazetteer, or is computed from those. Margins of error are shown where they matter.

Population
4,548
±270 · 59th pctile nationally
Median household income
US median $70,109 ·
Median home value
US median $207,500 ·
Median age
20.4
US median 42 years
Population density
27k/mi²
top 1% most dense
Land area
0.166 mi²
negligible water area

Location

Where 08544 is

40.346492, -74.657848 · Census ZCTA internal pointOpen larger map →
Coordinates40.346492, -74.657848
Time zoneAmerica/New_York
CountyMercer County
StateNew Jersey (NJ)
Land area0.166 mi²
Coordinate sourceCensus ZCTA internal point

Local time

America/New_York

—:—:—

Current weather

Live from the National Weather Service

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Distance to major cities

Straight-line, computed from coordinates

Philadelphia, PA38.2 mi
New York, NY42.6 mi
Boston, MA232.8 mi
Chicago, IL682.8 mi

People

Who lives in 08544

4,548 residents in 12 households, averaging 379.0 people per household. The largest age group is 18-24 at 93.2% of residents.

Age distribution

Share of residents by age band

Under 180.2%
18-2493.2%
25-346.5%
35-440.1%
45-540.0%
55-640.0%
65+0.0%

Households

Composition and size

Total households12
Average household size379.0
Family households0.0%
Living alone0.0%
Median age20.4 years
Households with internet100.0%

Race & ethnicity

Census race categories. Hispanic or Latino origin is asked separately and overlaps these groups.

White54.1%
Black9.6%
Asian24.8%
Native American1.0%
Other0.6%
Two or more10.0%
Hispanic / Latino14.5%

Income & work

What people earn in 08544

Income data is suppressed for this ZIP code.

Compared to the US

This ZIP against the national median

Median household income
Median household income±—
Per capita income$14,134
Poverty rate100.0%
Unemployment rate10.1%
Labor force participation48.6%

Household income distribution

Share of households in each bracket

<$25k100.0%
$25-50k0.0%
$50-75k0.0%
$75-100k0.0%
$100-150k0.0%
$150-200k0.0%
$200k+0.0%

Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 93.3% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 100.0% finished high school.

Housing

Homes and rent in 08544

Housing cost data is suppressed for this ZIP code.

Costs

Typical values

Median home value
Median gross rent—/mo
Median year built
Housing units12
Vacancy rate0.0%

Own vs. rent

Of 12 occupied units

Owner-occupied0.0%
Renter-occupied100.0%
Owner households0
Renter households12

Building types

Units by structure size

2-4 units100.0%

Getting to work

How 08544 commutes

49.1% of workers walked, and the average one-way trip takes 15.4 minutes. 26.0% work from home.

Mode of transport

Workers 16 and older

Drove alone14.1%
Carpooled2.1%
Public transit3.6%
Walked49.1%
Bike3.8%
Worked from home26.0%

Travel time

Mean commute 15.4 minutes

<10 min41.5%
10-1945.0%
20-293.9%
30-443.1%
45-590.5%
60+6.0%

Overview

Understanding ZIP code 08544

ZIP code 08544 is assigned to Princeton, NJ, and falls within Mercer County. Like every US postal code, it began as a mail-routing device rather than a geographic boundary — the US Postal Service groups delivery routes under a single code so carriers and sorting equipment can process mail efficiently. Today it also serves as a practical shorthand for the area itself: roughly 4,548 people live inside it.

At 27,398 residents per square mile spread over 0.166 square miles, 08544 reads as a dense urban area. It is a smaller postal code by population, and density shapes almost everything else on this page — how people get to work, whether they own or rent, and what housing costs.

Living here

What life in Princeton looks like

The building stock is dominated by small multi-family buildings of two to four units, which account for 100.0% of housing units here. At 0.0%, vacancy is low — housing here is tightly held.

The population skews notably young, with a median age of 20.4 against 42 nationally. Households are relatively large at 379.0 people on average, with 0.0% classified as family households.

Getting to work takes 15.4 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is walked at 49.1% of workers, while 49.1% walk, 26.0% work from home. Commute patterns are one of the better proxies for how a place actually functions day to day.

Where to stay

Where to stay in Princeton, NJ

Princeton sits in a densely built environment, and accommodation in and around 08544 tends to reflect that — full-service hotels, boutique properties and serviced apartments packed close together, usually within walking distance of transit. Rates in dense urban codes move sharply with the calendar: midweek business demand and weekend leisure demand can price very differently.

For reference, Philadelphia, PA is about 38.2 miles away in a straight line, which is worth factoring in if you are comparing a stay here against one closer to the city centre.

Availability and pricing change constantly, so the live search below will give you a more accurate picture than any figure we could publish here. It opens results for this area on Booking.com.

Book a Hotel →

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Practical uses

What ZIP code 08544 is used for

Beyond addressing mail, 08544 does a lot of quiet administrative work. Retailers use it to calculate shipping and sales tax at checkout. Insurers use it to set premiums, since risk profiles vary geographically. Employers and marketers use it to define service areas. Government agencies use it to route benefits and organise reporting. If you have ever been asked for a postal code by a form that clearly does not intend to send you anything, this is why.

For anyone weighing a move, 08544 offers a compact profile of Princeton: 4,548 residents, 93.3% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 10.1%. A handful of figures like these answer more relocation questions than most neighbourhood guides do.

One caution worth repeating: a postal code is not a neighbourhood. 08544 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Princeton may be split across more than one code. Boundaries also shift as USPS adjusts delivery routes. Treat the figures here as describing a delivery area, which is what they actually measure.

Nearby

ZIP codes near 08544

The eight closest postal codes by centroid distance, each with its own full profile. You can also browse every New Jersey ZIP code or use the ZIP Express Lookup to search by city, county or time zone.

Other ZIP codes in Princeton

Princeton is served by 5 postal codes.

More in Mercer County

Look up another

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Questions

Common questions about 08544

What city is ZIP code 08544 in?
08544 serves Princeton, New Jersey, in Mercer County, United States.
What is the population of 08544?
About 4,548 people live in ZIP code 08544, according to the US Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. The margin of error on that figure is ±270. That works out to roughly 27,398 people per square mile.
Is 08544 a good place to live?
That depends on what you're looking for, but here are the facts: 93.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the unemployment rate is 10.1%, and the median age is 20.4. The average commute is 15.4 minutes. We publish the numbers and let you weigh them.
What time zone is 08544 in?
08544 observes Eastern Time (America/New_York). This zone observes daylight saving time.
How big is ZIP code 08544?
ZIP code 08544 covers 0.166 square miles of land, per the US Census Bureau's 2023 Gazetteer files.
Is 08544 urban, suburban or rural?
By population density, 08544 reads as a dense urban area. It holds 27,398 people per square mile across 0.166 square miles of land. For reference, densities above 10,000 per square mile generally indicate an urban core, 1,000–3,000 is typically suburban, and under 200 is rural. These are rules of thumb rather than official designations — the Census Bureau classifies urban and rural areas by census block, not by ZIP code.
What is the commute like from 08544?
The average one-way commute from 08544 takes about 15.4 minutes. The most common way to travel is walked, used by 49.1% of workers aged 16 and over. Commute figures cover people who were employed and working outside the home during the survey period.
How many people work in 08544?
About 1,985 residents of 08544 are employed. Labor force participation stands at 48.6% and the unemployment rate is 10.1%. Note this counts residents by where they live, not by where they work — a ZIP with many offices can have far more jobs than employed residents.
Where should I stay when visiting 08544?
Accommodation in and around Princeton, NJ ranges with the character of the area. See the 'Where to stay' section on this page for local context, and use the live search there for current availability and pricing.
Does 08544 cover more than one city or county?
This page lists Princeton as the primary place and Mercer County as the county. ZIP codes follow mail delivery routes rather than municipal or county lines, so a single code can straddle boundaries, and USPS also recognises alternate acceptable city names for many codes. If you need the definitive answer for a specific street address, the USPS ZIP Code Lookup is the authority.
Can ZIP code 08544 change?
Yes. USPS adjusts ZIP codes as delivery volumes shift — codes are occasionally split, merged, retired or newly created, and boundaries move more often than most people assume. The Census Bureau's ZCTA definitions, which underpin the demographic figures on this page, are redrawn only once a decade, so the two can drift apart between censuses.

Methodology

Where this data comes from

  • Postal geography — GeoNames open postal code database (CC BY 4.0), cross-checked against the US Census Gazetteer.
  • Demographics, income, housing, commute — US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-Year Estimates, ZIP Code Tabulation Area 08544. Tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B02001, B03003, B08301, B08303, B11001, B15003, B17001, B19001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25024, B25035, B25064, B25077, B28002.
  • Land and water area — US Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer Files.
  • Weather — NOAA National Weather Service, fetched live in your browser.
  • Map — OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
On accuracy. ACS figures are survey estimates, not counts. The margin of error shown alongside the population figure means the true value has a 90% chance of falling in that range. For small ZIP codes the error can be large relative to the estimate — treat the direction as more reliable than the exact number. This page reports data for ZCTA 08544, the Census approximation of the USPS delivery area.