Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,180, settled in 1951.
Franklin Lakes is one of the best-graded places in America: an A+, 21st among New Jersey's 466 graded towns. On CDC health estimates it is near the top nationally, the median household earns $236K, and crime is low: it reports less per resident than 94% of U.S. towns. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $1.6 million for a typical one and 16.4 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 77% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Franklin Lakes, above both the New Jersey town median (45%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). Franklin Lakes is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 91% of U.S. towns. Franklin Lakes has 14 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Reaction Motors Rocket Test Facility and Ackerman-Boyd House.
Where Franklin Lakes beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Franklin Lakes | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.2% | 14.3% |
Its 14 National Register listings are more than in 95% of New Jersey towns with a listing.
Census counts: 375 in 1900, 11,079 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1785 and 5 maps from 1910 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Franklin Lakes is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Franklin Lakes. Close and well known come first.
Big draw20 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw20 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw20 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw30 mi MuseumUnited States Military AcademyCentral 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 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · United States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Franklin Lakes, 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 Franklin Lakes.
Franklin Lakes has less food insecurity than most of New Jersey and trades workers with New York City and other neighbors, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New Jersey.
At 16.4 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $1.63M) costs more against local pay than in 99% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Wyckoff Township is next at $1.16M.
Franklin Lakes: nearly nine in ten households are owner-occupiers. Typical home values rose 12% in the year to September 2026. The typical rent for Franklin Lakes comes to $3,230 a month.
| Franklin Lakes | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $3,230 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 89% | 77% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 63% | 52% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A− for schools comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.63M.
The public schools here belong to the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District. Below: Three of its 7 schools, each with why it was picked. The 4 public schools in Franklin Lakes teach 1,165 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Avenue Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 369 | A− |
| Ramapo High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,166 | B+ |
| High Mountain Road SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 301 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with New Jersey is food insecurity: 5.2% of its 8,563 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.3% statewide.
The share of adults in Franklin Lakes who have diabetes: 7.9%. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Franklin Lakes is ahead of New Jersey on 21 and behind on 1. 12% of adults in Franklin Lakes report frequent mental distress; 8.9% report frequent physical distress. Among 468 New Jersey towns, just 10 have a lower share of adults who worry about having enough food than Franklin Lakes.
| Franklin Lakes | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 5.9% | 11% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 8.9% | 12% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 28% | 35% |
| What stands out | Franklin Lakes | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.2% | 14.3% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 3.7% | 9.6% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.8% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 58 to 20 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2025, 0.2 per 1,000 residents.
The level of property crime in Franklin Lakes is 1.6 per 1,000 residents. The violent crime rate in the town is 0.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Franklin Lakes | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.6 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Trails total 7.3 miles in 8 parks and preserves. Old Mill Woodlands, at 172 acres with 1.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. For Franklin Lakes, the trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Franklin Lakes | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.4% | 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. G. Thomas Donch Nature Preserve | 2 mi | 105 |
| 2. Old Mill Woodlands | 1.3 mi | 172 |
| 3. Parsons Pond Park | 1.3 mi | 64 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA puts nearly four fifths of Franklin Lakes’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 6% to earthquakes. Compared with 72% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in the town is lower. The town has had 18 paid flood insurance claims since 1979.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A winter brings about 24 inches of snow, with January nights at 21° and July afternoons at 85°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Franklin Lakes has about as many jobs (5,237) as working residents, but only 249 people both live and work here. Jobs based here fell from 7,178 in 2013 to 5,237.
Franklin Lakes’ typical journey to work is 37 minutes. Jobs in the town fell by 1,941 from 2013 to 2023, to 5,237. Among residents locally, 3.4% live below the poverty line. The top destinations are New York (16%), Hackensack (3%) and Paterson (3%).
| Franklin Lakes | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $236,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 37 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.4% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.9% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
30 within 15 miles of the center of Franklin Lakes
About 5 of every 100 Franklin Lakes residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
14 places in Franklin Lakes on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in Franklin Lakes.
Borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, US
Franklin Lakes 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 11,079, an increase of 489 (+4.6%) from the 2010 census count of 10,590, which in turn reflected an increase of 168 (+1.6%) from the 10,422 counted in the 2000 census. Becton Dickinson, a Fortune 500 company, is headquartered in Franklin Lakes. Franklin Lakes was formed by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 11, 1922, from portions of Franklin Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 11, 1922. The borough was named for William Franklin, the illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin, a steadfast Loyalist who served as the l…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Franklin Lakes.
At #21 in NJ, it grades higher overall than all 5 graded towns on its borders; Oakland (A+) comes closest.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Lakes | #21 | A+ | D− | A | A− | A+ |
| Mahwah Township | #116 | A | D− | — | A− | A+ |
| Oakland | #26 | A+ | C | A | A− | A+ |
| Wyckoff Township | #74 | A | D− | — | A− | A+ |
| Wayne Township | #214 | B+ | D− | C+ | B+ | A+ |
| North Haledon | #240 | B | D− | — | C+ | A |
| Pines Lake | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Mahwah Township, Wyckoff Township and North Haledon report no FBI crime data of their own. Pines Lake isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Franklin Lakes with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Franklin Lakes grades A+ overall, better than 98% of U.S. towns and #21 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, by national standards. Franklin Lakes reports less crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade: 2 violent and 18 property crimes in 2025.
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 Jeremy Zucker and Dan Grunfeld.
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