BrookdaleNJ
A town of 9,960, settled in 1873.
Is Brookdale a good place to live?
Brookdale’s median household income is $162,000, against $113,000 in New Jersey’s towns and $80,000 across U.S. towns. Among 469 New Jersey towns, just 9 have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Brookdale. Brookdale’s trail density is 1.4 miles per square mile, against 0.7 in New Jersey’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Brookdale Park, at 58 acres. We don’t grade Brookdale yet; the figures below are still real.
98% of working residents leave Brookdale for work
Where Brookdale’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
MetLife Stadium and 544 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Brookdale. Close and well known come first.
Big draw6 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw12 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw11 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw12 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw12 mi MuseumNational September 11 Memorial & MuseumPhoto credits
MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Madison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Central Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · National September 11 Memorial & Museum: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0
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Moving to Brookdale: who provides what
Brookdale is unincorporated, so Essex County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Brookdale.
Most of Brookdale’s workers commute out: the town has 0.6 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Brookdale for work: only 2% work in town. Brookdale’s average trip to work is 35 minutes. Jobs based in Brookdale fell to 3,233 in 2023, 462 fewer than in 2013.
| Brookdale | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 35 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.8% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Low risk in Brookdale, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 77% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 49 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Brookdale.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Brookdale
Brookdale has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 23° and about 24 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Compared with most of New Jersey and the rest of the country, fewer of Brookdale’s adults have high blood pressure
26% of Brookdale adults have high blood pressure. Brookdale beats the New Jersey average on 22 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 15% of Brookdale adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Brookdale | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 28% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 32% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.8% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Brookdale | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.8% | 14.3% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4.5% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Brookdale Park | 0.1 mi | 58 |
| 2. Brookdale Park Main Meadow | — | 12 |
| 3. Vassar Field | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
| Brookdale | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 87% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,791 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Brookdale
Colleges nearby
94 within 15 miles of the center of Brookdale
About 6 of every 100 Brookdale residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
About Brookdale
Populated place in Essex County, New Jersey, US
Brookdale is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Bloomfield Township, located within Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is generally considered to be the part of Bloomfield north of Bay Avenue. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's total population was 9,854, an increase of 615 (+6.7%) from the 9,239 counted in the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 1.6 sq mi
- Elevation
- 177 ft
Brookdale’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Brookdale.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookdale | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bloomfield Township | #259 | B | D | B− | B− | A |
| Nutley Township | #149 | A− | D | A− | B+ | A+ |
| Glen Ridge | #70 | A | D | B | A | A+ |
Brookdale isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Brookdale with a neighbor →
Questions about Brookdale
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Brookdale, NJ a good place to live?
We don’t grade Brookdale yet; the figures below are still real.