Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Fort Lee grades A− overall, 160th of 466 graded towns in New Jersey. It is among the most walkable places in the country. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 93% of the country and its schools rank ahead of 79% of New Jersey towns. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $593K, 6 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 66% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Fort Lee, where New Jersey’s towns sit at 45% and U.S. towns at 29%. Church of the Madonna is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Fort Lee beats most towns.
35,345 counted in 2010 and 40,191 in 2020; an estimated 40,345 in 2025.
Growth has leveled off: within 1% of 2020, after 13.7% 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 Fort Lee is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% 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: 1,424 in 1880, 40,191 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1776 and 7 maps from 1897 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fort Lee. Close and well known come first.
Big draw5 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw7 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw6 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw5 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw3 mi Stadium & arenaYankee Stadium
Big draw6 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 Fort Lee, 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 Fort Lee.
Fort Lee carries less natural-hazard risk than most of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding), sends many workers across the state line and is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s.
3.8 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. Fort Lee’s trail density is 1.4 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Palisades Interstate Park, 53 acres with 1.2 miles of trail.
| Fort Lee | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.4 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.9% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Palisades Interstate Park | 1.2 mi | 53 |
| 2. Constitution Park | 0.5 mi | 6 |
| 3. Coytesville Park | 0.3 mi | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Fort Lee School District. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis F. Cole Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 1,227 | A− |
| Fort Lee High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,170 | A− |
| School No. 1Top results in townGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 540 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Within New Jersey it is healthier than 64% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar. Its widest gap with New Jersey is utility shut-off threats: 4.4% of its 33,322 adults were threatened with a utility shut-off, against 7% statewide.
12% of Fort Lee adults have been diagnosed with depression. Fort Lee beats the New Jersey average on 19 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 22% of Fort Lee adults have obesity.
| Fort Lee | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 16% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 28% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 16% | 16% |
| What stands out | Fort Lee | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4.4% | 7% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.2% | 12.3% |
| More adults with high cholesterol | 43.9% | 39.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 90% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $144 per resident a year; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA risk score in Fort Lee is 19 of 100. Since 1978, 15 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Fort Lee.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
32% of working residents cross a state line to work.
Most working residents leave Fort Lee for work: only 8% work in town. 22% of workers work from home in Fort Lee. The top destinations are New York (39%), Jersey City (3%) and Englewood Cliffs (2%).
| Fort Lee | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 35 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 22% | 16% | 11% |
| Median household income | $107,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.8% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Fort Lee has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 24° and about 30 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 16.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 61% of New Jersey’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 595 to 428 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Typical home values rose 7.9% in the year to September 2026.
| Fort Lee | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,270 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 55% | 77% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
121 within 15 miles of the center of Fort Lee
About 6 of every 100 Fort Lee residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
Where Fort Lee’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
10 notable people were born in Fort Lee.
Borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, US
Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 40,191, an increase of 4,846 (+13.7%) from the 2010 census count of 35,345, which in turn reflected a decline of 116 (−0.3%) from the 35,461 counted in the 2000 census. Along with other communities in Bergen County, it is one of the largest and fastest-growing ethnic Korean enclaves outside of Korea. Fort Lee is named for the site of an American Revolutionary War military encampment, named after controversial Continental Army general Charles Lee. At the turn of the 20th century, it…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Fort Lee.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Lee | #160 | A− | D− | B | A− | A |
| Edgewater | #208 | B+ | D− | B | B+ | A+ |
| Leonia | #99 | A | D− | A− | B+ | A+ |
| Englewood Cliffs | #53 | A | D− | B | A+ | A+ |
| Palisades Park | #275 | B− | D− | A− | D | A |
| Englewood | #374 | C− | D− | C+ | C− | A− |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Fort Lee grades A− overall, better than 79% of U.S. towns and #160 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A for health, B 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−.
10 notable people were born here, including Jac Schaeffer and James A. Van Fleet.
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