Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Edgewater grades B+ overall, 208th among New Jersey's 466 graded towns. It is among the most walkable places in the country. On CDC health estimates it is near the top nationally. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $703K for a typical one and 7.1 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 73% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Edgewater, against 45% in New Jersey’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns. Only 45 of New Jersey’s 530 towns score lower on hazard risk. Edgewater has 5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Alcoa Edgewater Works and BINGHAMTON (ferryboat).
Where Edgewater beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| Widest gap | Edgewater | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.8% | 9.6% |
11,513 counted in 2010 and 14,336 in 2020; an estimated 15,499 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 8.1% since 2020, after 24.5% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Edgewater is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 1%), so the B+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,006 in 1900, 14,336 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1800 and 7 maps from 1897 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Edgewater. Close and well known come first.
Big draw3 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw5 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw3 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw4 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw5 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw3 mi Stadium & arenaYankee StadiumCentral 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 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Yankee Stadium: Matt Boulton, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Edgewater, 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 Edgewater.
Edgewater sends many workers across the state line and is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding).
Its widest gap with New Jersey is tooth loss: 4.8% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9.6% statewide.
8.2% of adults report frequent physical distress in Edgewater. Edgewater beats the New Jersey average on 23 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 12% of adults report frequent mental distress in Edgewater.
| Edgewater | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 8.2% | 12% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 28% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
| What stands out | Edgewater | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.8% | 9.6% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 2.9% | 5.1% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 73.6% | 77.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Edgewater School District. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eleanor Van GelderLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–6 | Grades 3–6 | 384 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 92% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $441 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Edgewater’s FEMA risk score is 85 of 100. Since 1978, 70 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Edgewater.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1.6 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. The biggest park or preserve is Veterans Park, at 21 acres.
| Edgewater | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 7.6% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Veterans Park | 0.9 mi | 21 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Cliffside Park is next at $625K.
The median rent in Edgewater is $2,579 a month. Typical home values rose 5% in the year to September 2026. 40% of Edgewater households own their home.
| Edgewater | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 40% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $2,579 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Edgewater has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 25° and about 30 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
31% of working residents cross a state line to work. The average commute for its 6,267 working residents takes 38.1 minutes, against 30.5 across New Jersey.
Most working residents leave Edgewater for work: only 4% work in town. Jobs based in Edgewater grew to 5,047 in 2023, 738 more than in 2013. The top destinations are New York (43%), Jersey City (4%) and Fort Lee (3%).
| Edgewater | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 38 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $124,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.1% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.7% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 14.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 57% of New Jersey’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 8 reported in 2025, 0.5 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
137 within 15 miles of the center of Edgewater
About 6 of every 100 Edgewater residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
5 places in Edgewater on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Edgewater.
Borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, US
Edgewater is a borough located along the Hudson River in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 14,336, an increase of 2,823 (+24.5%) from the 2010 census count of 11,513, which in turn reflected an increase of 3,836 (+50.0%) from the 7,677 counted in the 2000 census The borough's history has featured the founding of the first colony in Bergen County, contribution to the Revolutionary War, a period as a "sleepy, pastoral little town" with resort hotels in the 19th century, industrialization in the early 20th century, and a transition to a rapidly growing residential community in the late 20th century. Edgewater was i…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Edgewater.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edgewater | #208 | B+ | D− | B | B+ | A+ |
| Fort Lee | #160 | A− | D− | B | A− | A |
| Cliffside Park | #263 | B | D− | B+ | C+ | A− |
| North Bergen Township | #375 | C− | D− | B | D | B− |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Edgewater grades B+ overall, better than 68% of U.S. towns and #208 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health, B for safety and B+ 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−.
4 notable people were born here, including Barbara Corcoran and Jim White.
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