Although the majority of commuting trips in the township are by private automobile, Hillside is somewhat unusual for a township of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the bus helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Hillside area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.
The education level of Hillside citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 29.14% of adults in Hillside have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Hillside in 2022 was $38,490, which is low income relative to New Jersey, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $153,960 for a family of four. However, Hillside contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Hillside is an extremely ethnically-diverse township. The people who call Hillside home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Hillside residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Hillside also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 26.59% of the township’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Hillside include Haitian, Portuguese, Brazilian, Jamaican, and Other Subsaharan African.
Foreign born people are also an important part of Hillside's cultural character, accounting for 35.68% of the township’s population.
The most common language spoken in Hillside is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Portuguese.
