Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For a city of 109,077, Edison Township does well: it grades B+, 210th among New Jersey's 466 graded towns. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 92% of the country and the median household earns $125K. The trade-off: homes are expensive, about $636K for a typical one and 6.4 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Edison Township is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns. 59% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Edison Township, above both New Jersey’s towns (45%) and U.S. towns (29%). Edison Township is home to Middlesex College.
Where Edison Township beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1651, comes before those of 99% of the New Jersey towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 3,460 in 1870, 107,588 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1909 and 7 maps from 1888 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Edison Township is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 10%), so the B+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Edison Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw28 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw26 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw20 mi BeachConey Island
Big draw26 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw28 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a yearMadison 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 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Coney Island: OptimumPx, Public domain · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Edison Township, 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 Edison Township.
Edison Township draws workers from Woodbridge Township and beyond, is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in New Jersey.
77,472 jobs are based in Edison Township, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Edison Township for work: only 15% work in town. The average trip to work in Edison Township is 34 minutes. Since 2013, Edison Township has added 10,665 jobs, to 77,472 in 2023.
| Edison Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 24% | 16% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $125,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Edison Township School District. Three of its 34 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodrow Wilson Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,206 | A |
| John P. Stevens High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,687 | A |
| Edison Academy Magnet SchoolTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 173 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Within New Jersey it is healthier than 61% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar.
11% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Edison Township. Edison Township beats the New Jersey average on 19 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 25% of adults have obesity in Edison Township.
| Edison Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 16% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.4% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Edison Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4.6% | 7% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.7% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
24 miles of trail in 29 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Peter J. Barnes III Wildlife Preserve, at 421 acres.
| Edison Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 4.9% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Roosevelt Park | 1.4 mi | 158 |
| 2. Rutgers Ecological Preserve | 1.3 mi | 25 |
| 3. Peter J. Barnes III Wildlife Preserve | 0.9 mi | 421 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Edison Township has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 24° and about 29 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 25 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 80% of New Jersey’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 2,377 to 1,830 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Edison Township’s property crime rate is 14.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Edison Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.8 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.8 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
61% of Edison Township households own their home. The typical Edison Township home is worth about $636,000, up 2.2% in a year, 11% above the New Jersey typical home. 39% of Edison Township renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent.
| Edison Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 61% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,974 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 39% | 52% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
154 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 19 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 52% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 154 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Edison Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
13 within 15 miles of the center of Edison Township
About 6 of every 100 Edison Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
2 colleges in town.
4 places in Edison Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
27 notable people were born in Edison Township.
Township in New Jersey, United States
Edison is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. Situated in Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan Valley region, Edison is a commercial hub (home to Menlo Park Mall and Little India) and is a bedroom community of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township was the state's sixth-most-populous municipality, with a population of 107,588, an increase of 7,621 (+7.6%) from the 2010 census count of 99,967, which in turn reflected an increase of 2,280 (+2.3%) from the 97,687 counted in the 2000 census. What is now Edison Township was originally incorporated as Raritan Township by an act of the New J…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Edison Township.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edison Township | #210 | B+ | D | C+ | A− | A |
| New Brunswick | #458 | D− | D | D | D− | C |
| Highland Park | #248 | B | D | B | C+ | A+ |
| Sayreville | #273 | B− | D | — | B− | A− |
| Woodbridge Township | #277 | B− | D− | — | C+ | A− |
| Piscataway Township | #229 | B | D | — | B | A |
| South Plainfield | #268 | B− | D | C+ | B | A |
| East Brunswick Township | #163 | A− | D | B− | A− | A |
Sayreville, Woodbridge Township and Piscataway Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Edison Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Edison Township grades B+ overall, better than 68% of U.S. towns and #210 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A for health, C+ for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
27 notable people were born here, including Mike Vallely and Tom Dwan.
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