Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hackensack's standout: it is among the most walkable places in the country. Overall it grades C−, ranked 393rd of 466 in New Jersey. Its weakest subject is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $463K for a typical one and 4.7 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 37% of households own their home in Hackensack, where New Jersey’s towns sit at 77% and U.S. towns at 73%. Hackensack is home to Eastwick College-Hackensack. Hackensack has 6 places on the National Register.
Where Hackensack beats most towns.
U.s.s. Ling
Its founding year, 1665, comes before those of 97% of the New Jersey towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 2,835 in 1810, a low of 1,693 in 1830, 46,030 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1818 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Hackensack is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 5%), so the C− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hackensack. Close and well known come first.
Big draw9 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw5 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw10 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw9 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw9 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaYankee StadiumCentral Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Madison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Yankee Stadium: Matt Boulton, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hackensack, 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 Hackensack.
Hackensack draws workers from New York City and beyond, is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in New Jersey.
37,741 jobs are based in Hackensack, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Hackensack for work: only 12% work in town. Hackensack’s median household income is $84,000. The top destinations are New York (21%), Paramus (4%) and Teaneck Township (2%).
| Hackensack | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $84,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Each of its 7 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its C−, River Edge highest at A.
Its public schools are run by the Hackensack School District. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hackensack Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 1,399 | C− |
| Hackensack High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,813 | C+ |
| Bergen County AcademiesTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,130 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
4.7 miles of trail in 15 parks and preserves. The trail density in Hackensack is 1.1 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Foschini Park, at 30 acres.
| Hackensack | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.1 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.5% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Borg's Woods | 0.9 mi | 24 |
| 2. Foschini Park | 0.6 mi | 30 |
| 3. Johnson Park | 0.4 mi | 20 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Within New Jersey it is less healthy than 69% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar.
Hackensack beats the New Jersey average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 14% of Hackensack adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Hackensack | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 36% | 36% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Hackensack | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.9% | 7.5% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 19.4% | 22.2% |
| More uninsured adults | 15.8% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 30.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 85% of New Jersey’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 1,195 to 990 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Hackensack has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 23° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Ridgefield Park is next at $606K.
The typical Hackensack home is worth about $463,000, up 3.8% in a year, 19% below the New Jersey typical home.
| Hackensack | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,911 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 51% | 52% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Only 36.6% of households own their home, against 63.8% across New Jersey.
Children under 18 are 15% of residents (22% statewide). 42% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Hackensack.
| Hackensack | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 15% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 42% | 45% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.6 points. Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women. Median age: women 44.7, men 39.1.
| Hackensack | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.5% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.2% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.7% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 18.2% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.4% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.3% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.6% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.3% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.8% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12.4% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.6% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.3% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.6% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.9% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.2% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
416 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 77 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 54% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 416 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Hackensack.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
104 within 15 miles of the center of Hackensack
About 7 of every 100 Hackensack residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
Where Hackensack’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 places in Hackensack on the National Register of Historic Places.
62 notable people were born in Hackensack.
City in Bergen County, New Jersey, US
Hackensack is the most populous municipality in and the county seat of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The area was officially named New Barbadoes Township until 1921, but has informally been known as Hackensack since at least the 18th century. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 46,030, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 3,020 (+7.0%) from the 2010 census count of 43,010, which in turn reflected an increase of 333 (+0.8%) from the 42,677 counted in the 2000 census. An inner suburb of New York City, Hackensack is located approximately 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Midtown Manhattan and about 7 miles (11 km) from the George Washingt…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Hackensack.
All 7 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C−; South Hackensack Township (C−) is closest.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hackensack | #393 | C− | D− | C | C− | B+ |
| Maywood | #140 | A− | D | B | A− | A |
| River Edge | #33 | A+ | D | A− | A | A+ |
| Paramus | #293 | B− | D− | C− | B+ | A |
| Teaneck Township | #201 | B+ | D | B+ | C+ | A |
| Bogota | #212 | B+ | D− | A− | B− | A− |
| Ridgefield Park | #274 | B− | D | B+ | B− | B+ |
| South Hackensack Township | #377 | C− | D− | D | B+ | B |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hackensack grades C− overall, better than 19% of U.S. towns and #393 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades B+ for health, C for safety and C− 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−.
62 notable people were born here, including Rachel Zegler and Wally Schirra.
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