Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 9,375, settled in 1819.
Caldwell is one of the best-graded places in America: an A, ranked 54th of 466 in New Jersey. Residents are healthier than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, crime is low: it reports less per resident than 89% of U.S. towns, and the median household earns $97K. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $736K for a typical one and 7.4 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 42% of households own their home in Caldwell, below both New Jersey’s towns (77%) and U.S. towns (73%). Caldwell is home to Caldwell University.
Where Caldwell beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Caldwell | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.5% | 14.3% |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Caldwell is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 3%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,367 in 1900, 9,027 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1884 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Caldwell. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw17 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw16 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw17 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw16 mi MuseumNational September 11 Memorial & MuseumMadison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, 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
Who provides power, water and the rest in Caldwell, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Caldwell.
Caldwell carries less natural-hazard risk than most of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding), has less food insecurity than most of New Jersey and sees little violent crime.
Its widest gap with New Jersey is food insecurity: 8.5% of its 7,479 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.3% statewide.
24% of adults have high blood pressure in Caldwell. Only 8 of the 468 New Jersey towns we compare have a lower share of adults who have diabetes than Caldwell. 22% of adults have obesity in Caldwell.
| Caldwell | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 32% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 28% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 7.1% | 9.7% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.7% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Caldwell | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.5% | 14.3% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4.3% | 7% |
| More binge drinkers | 18.3% | 15.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Caldwell-West School District. Its three schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grover Cleveland Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 610 | B+ |
| Mount Saint Dominic Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 254 | – |
| Lincoln Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 253 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2025, 0.2 per 1,000 residents.
The violent crime rate in Caldwell is 0.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Caldwell | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.6 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
1.0 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Grover Cleveland Park, at 23 acres. Caldwell’s trail density is 0.8 miles per square mile.
| Caldwell | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Grover Cleveland Park | 0.5 mi | 23 |
| 2. Grover Cleveland Birthplace | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 89% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $191 per resident a year; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
Since 2007, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Caldwell.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Caldwell for work: only 3% work in town. 20% of Caldwell workers work from home. Jobs based in Caldwell fell to 1,894 in 2023, 216 fewer than in 2013.
| Caldwell | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 20% | 16% | 11% |
| Median household income | $97,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.5% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Typical home values rose 5.7% in the year to September 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Caldwell has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 22° and about 24 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
31 within 15 miles of the center of Caldwell
About 10 of every 100 Caldwell residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
7,822 counted in 2010 and 9,027 in 2020; an estimated 9,375 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
8 notable people were born in Caldwell.
Borough in Essex County, New Jersey, US
Caldwell is a borough located in northwestern Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about 16 miles (26 km) west of New York City and 6 miles (9.7 km) north-west of Newark, the state's most populous city. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 9,027, an increase of 1,205 (+15.4%) from the 2010 census count of 7,822, which in turn reflected an increase of 238 (+3.1%) from the 7,584 counted in the 2000 census. Caldwell was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 10, 1892, from portions of Caldwell Township (now Fairfield Township), based on the results of a referendum held on the previous day. In 1981, the borough's name…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Caldwell.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caldwell | #54 | A | D− | A | A− | A+ |
| West Caldwell Township | #69 | A | D | A− | A− | A+ |
| Essex Fells | — | — | D− | B | A | A+ |
| North Caldwell | #108 | A | D− | — | A | A+ |
Essex Fells has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. North Caldwell reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Caldwell with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Caldwell grades A overall, better than 94% of U.S. towns and #54 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health, A for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
8 notable people were born here, including Grover Cleveland and Camryn Manheim.
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