Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Demarest grades A overall, 123rd of 466 graded towns in New Jersey. It is among the healthiest towns in the country on CDC estimates. Its public schools beat 91% of New Jersey towns on state tests and graduation and the median household earns $208K. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $1.5 million for a typical one and 15.5 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 76% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Demarest, above both the New Jersey town median (45%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). On civic life, just 28 of New Jersey’s 527 towns do better. Demarest has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Hardenburgh Avenue Bridge and Bogert House.
Where Demarest beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Demarest | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.8% | 14.3% |
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| County Road School | PK–1 | 221 |
| Luther Lee Emerson School | 2–4 | 221 |
| Demarest Middle School | 5–8 | 359 |
Where Demarest’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Demarest is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 393 in 1900, 4,981 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1872 and 4 maps from 1897 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Demarest. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw12 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw9 mi Stadium & arenaYankee Stadium
Big draw13 mi TheatreStudio 54Central Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Madison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Yankee Stadium: Matt Boulton, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Demarest, 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 Demarest.
Demarest has schools in the top 5% of New Jersey, sends many workers across the state line and has less food insecurity than most of New Jersey.
At 15.5 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $1.54M) costs more against local pay than in 99% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. Home values rose 59% in five years, to about $1.54M, against 35% across New Jersey.
For households in Demarest, the share who own their home is 94%. Typical home values rose 19% in the year to September 2026. Its median rent stands at $3,501 a month.
| Demarest | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $3,501 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 94% | 77% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
That grade ranks #21 of the 465 New Jersey towns we grade for schools. It comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.54M.
The largest public high school is Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest, with 1,038 students. Public school enrollment in the town: 2,129 students across 5 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demarest Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 359 | A+ |
| Northern Valley Regional High School at DemarestLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,038 | A+ |
| Luther Lee Emerson SchoolTop results in townGrades 2–4 | Grades 2–4 | 221 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
4.7 miles of trail. Demarest’s trail network density comes in at 2.2 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its widest gap with New Jersey is food insecurity: 5.8% of its 3,692 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.3% statewide.
In Demarest, nearly one in ten adults report frequent physical distress. This New Jersey town does better than the New Jersey average on 23 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 1. 13% of adults in the town have been diagnosed with depression; 11% report frequent mental distress.
| Demarest | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 28% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 8.5% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Demarest | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.8% | 14.3% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.6% | 11.3% |
| More adults with high cholesterol | 42.5% | 39.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
27% of working residents cross a state line to work. The average commute for its 2,298 working residents takes 43.2 minutes, against 30.5 across New Jersey.
For half of commuters, work is under 19 miles away. Demarest had 875 jobs in 2023, up 195 from 2013. Its average trip to work stands at 43 minutes. The top destinations are New York (34%), Englewood (4%) and Fort Lee (2%).
| Demarest | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 43 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $208,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 1.1% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.7% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Demarest brings chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Summer afternoons peak near 86° in July, and January nights bottom out around 24°; snowfall runs to about 33 inches a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Demarest's reported crime rate is well below New Jersey's. In Demarest, the property offense rate is 2.8 per 1,000 residents. No violent crimes were reported in 2025. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Demarest | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.8 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Paid flood insurance claims in Demarest since 1990: 25. Storm and flood damage is expected to run lower than in 56% of U.S. communities. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Demarest after 11 declared disasters, most recently in 2021. FEMA puts 79% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 6% to hurricanes.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
90 within 15 miles of the center of Demarest
About 4 of every 100 Demarest residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
6 places in Demarest on the National Register of Historic Places.
Borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, US
Demarest is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,981, an increase of 100 (+2.0%) from the 2010 census count of 4,881, which in turn reflected an increase of 36 (+0.7%) from the 4,845 counted in the 2000 census. Located in the northeastern corner of New Jersey and its Gateway Region, Demarest is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Demarest was formed by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1903, from portions of Harrington Township and Palisades Township. The borough was named for the Demarest family and for the Demarest train station, which had in turn been named for Ralph S. Dem…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Demarest.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its A; Cresskill (A) is closest.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demarest | #123 | A | D− | — | A | A+ |
| Cresskill | #86 | A | D− | — | A | A+ |
| Closter | #58 | A | D− | B+ | A | A+ |
| Alpine | — | — | D− | B+ | A+ | A+ |
| Haworth | #23 | A+ | D | — | A | A+ |
Alpine has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Demarest, Cresskill and Haworth report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Demarest with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Demarest grades A overall, better than 86% of U.S. towns and #123 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health 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−.
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