Inclusive J/\(\psi\) yields and average transverse momenta in p-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair \(\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}\) = 8.16 TeV are measured as a function of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density with ALICE. The J/\(\psi\) mesons are reconstructed at forward \((2.03 < y_{\rm cms} < 3.53)\) and backward (\(-4.46 < y_{\rm cms} < -2.96\)) center-of-mass rapidity in their dimuon decay channel while the charged-particle pseudorapidity density is measured around midrapidity. The J/\(\psi\) yields at forward and backward rapidity normalized to their respective average values increase with the normalized charged-particle pseudorapidity density, the former showing a weaker increase than the latter. The normalized average transverse momenta at forward and backward rapidity manifest a steady increase from low to high charged-particle pseudorapidity density with a saturation beyond the average value.