Many of New Jersey’s least educated towns share several other key markers: low incomes, lack of access to higher education and widespread language hurdles, experts say.

While the state as a whole ranks fifth in the nation, with 38.9% of residents 25 and over holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, certain towns fall well below that average, according to recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

James Hughes, a public policy professor at Rutgers with a background in demographic analysis, said one factor is the history of cities such as Paterson and Elizabeth as a “gateway municipality” for recent immigrants.

“It’s a new immigrant population, starting out at the bottom of the economic ladder," Hughes said. "And they’re ultimately going to work themselves up, but they’re probably looking at affordable housing as a key factor.”

Tim Clydesdale, vice provost at The College of New Jersey, says low incomes often make it difficult for children in such household to get ahead.

“Those things are much easier when the household is economically stable," Clydesdale said. "They don’t have to be high-wage jobs, but they need to be secure.”

The data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent edition of its American Community Survey, a five-year study covering 2014 to 2018. The towns shown below are those with the lowest percentage of residents aged 25 and over with a bachelor’s degree or higher. The locations highlighted have at least 20,000 adults in the age group.

For many of these places, it’s not the first time they’ve been recognized in this way. Several landed on the last version of this list in 2018.

On a county level, Cumberland County trails the state at 14.7%, followed by Salem (20.9) and Atlantic (27.4).

On the state level, New Jersey falls behind Massachusetts, Colorado, Maryland and Connecticut. West Virginia is the least educated state in the nation, with 20.3% of residents 25 and over holding a bachelor’s degree or higher.

20. Linden, Union County

22.5% bachelor’s or higher

7.5% graduate or professional degree

19. Deptford Township, Gloucester County

22.3% bachelor’s or higher

7% graduate or professional degree

18. New Brunswick, Middlesex County

21.7% bachelor’s or higher

9.5% graduate or professional degree

17. Pennsauken Township, Camden County

20.9% bachelor’s or higher

6.1% graduate or professional degree

16. Manchester Township, Ocean County

20.8% bachelor’s or higher

6.1% graduate or professional degree

15. Union City, Hudson County

20.5% bachelor’s or higher

6.4% graduate or professional degree

14. Garfield, Bergen County

20% bachelor’s or higher

5% graduate or professional degree

13. Berkeley Township, Ocean County

18.9% bachelor’s or higher

5.6% graduate or professional degree

12. East Orange, Essex County

18.4% bachelor’s or higher

5.8% graduate or professional degree

tie-10. Plainfield, Union County

17.7% bachelor’s or higher

6.6% graduate or professional degree

tie-10. Vineland, Cumberland County

17.7% bachelor’s or higher

5.4% graduate or professional degree

9. Irvington Township, Essex County

17.4% bachelor’s or higher

5% graduate or professional degree

8. Atlantic City, Atlantic County

16.4% bachelor’s or higher

4.9% graduate or professional degree

7. Passaic, Passaic County

15.9% bachelor’s or higher

5.5% graduate or professional degree

6. Newark, Essex County

14.8% bachelor’s or higher

4.4% graduate or professional degree

5. Perth Amboy, Middlesex County

14.5% bachelor’s or higher

4.1% graduate or professional degree

4. Elizabeth, Union County

13.2% bachelor’s or higher

3.9% graduate or professional degree

3. Trenton, Mercer County

11.7% bachelor’s or higher

4% graduate or professional degree

2. Paterson, Passaic County

10.8% bachelor’s or higher

2.4% graduate or professional degree

1. Camden, Camden County

9.1% bachelor’s or higher

2.8% graduate or professional degree

Nick Devlin is a reporter on the data & investigations team. He can be reached at ndevlin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @nickdevlin.