Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,541, settled in 1762.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Hardyston Township grades B+ overall, 205th among New Jersey's 466 graded towns. It reports less crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns. It is healthier than 82% of U.S. towns. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $360K, 3.6 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 44% of the land in Hardyston Township is conserved, where New Jersey’s towns sit at 11% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. The biggest place to walk is Hamburg Mountain Wildlife Management Area, 2,724 acres with 9.8 miles of trail. Only 3 of the 468 New Jersey towns we compare have a lower July high than Hardyston Township.
Where Hardyston Township beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,702 in 1810, a low of 946 in 1930, 8,125 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1819 and 3 maps from 1888 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Hardyston Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hardyston Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw39 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw39 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw36 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
Big draw33 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw39 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw39 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 · United States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · 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
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hardyston 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 Hardyston Township.
Hardyston Township keeps more of its land conserved than most of New Jersey and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in New Jersey; it also has commutes longer than most of New Jersey.
Its 9,201 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 96% of New Jersey towns.
24 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hamburg Mountain Wildlife Management Area | 9.8 mi | 2,724 |
| 2. Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area | 2.9 mi | 1,925 |
| 3. Congleton Preserve | — | 117 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Wallkill Valley Regional High School. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Wallkill Valley Regional High School, with 581 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardyston Township Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 261 | B− |
| Wallkill Valley Regional High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 581 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2025, 0.2 per 1,000 residents.
Hardyston Township’s property crime rate is 1.8 per 1,000 residents, against 7.5 in New Jersey’s towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns. Hardyston Township’s violent crime rate is 0.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Hardyston Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.8 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
Within New Jersey it is less healthy than 58% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar. Against the 5,695 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hardyston Township’s, it is healthier than 59%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
19% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Hardyston Township. Hardyston Township beats the New Jersey average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 27% of adults have obesity in Hardyston Township.
| Hardyston Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 28% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Hardyston Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 8% | 11.3% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.3% | 14.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.5% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The average commute for its 4,002 working residents takes 40.1 minutes, against 30.5 across New Jersey.
Most working residents leave Hardyston Township for work: only 5% work in town. The average trip to work in Hardyston Township is 40 minutes. Jobs based in Hardyston Township fell to 1,627 in 2023, 227 fewer than in 2013.
| Hardyston Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 40 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $120,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.4% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.2% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
People 65 and older are 28% of residents (17% statewide); children under 18 are 17% of residents (22% statewide). Hardyston Township has grown 4.8% since 2020, to 8,541 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 36% of Hardyston Township adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Hardyston Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 28% | 18% | 18% |
| Median age | 47.4 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 17% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 45% | 29% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.3 points. Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women.
| Hardyston Township | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.4% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.2% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.9% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.6% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.6% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.6% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.1% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.7% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.1% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.9% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.5% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.7% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.7% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 70% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Hardyston Township since 2011.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Hardyston Township has chilly winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. Only 8 of the 468 New Jersey towns we compare have a lower January low than Hardyston Township.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1 within 15 miles of the center of Hardyston Township
About 3 of every 100 Hardyston Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
44.4% of the town is conserved land, across 3 parks and preserves.
3 places in Hardyston Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Township in Sussex County, New Jersey, US
Hardyston Township is a township in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 8,125, a decrease of 88 (−1.1%) from the 2010 census count of 8,213, which in turn reflected an increase of 2,042 (+33.1%) from the 6,171 counted in the 2000 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Hardyston Township.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardyston Township | #205 | B+ | D | A | B− | A− |
| Wantage Township | #369 | C | C− | — | C | A− |
| Hamburg | #262 | B | C− | B+ | B− | A |
| Franklin | #260 | B | C | A | C+ | B |
| Vernon Township | #204 | B+ | C− | A+ | B− | A |
| Lafayette Township | — | — | C− | — | C+ | A− |
| Sparta Township | #83 | A | D | A | B+ | A+ |
| Ogdensburg | — | — | C | — | B− | A− |
Lafayette Township and Ogdensburg have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Wantage Township, Lafayette Township and Ogdensburg report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Hardyston Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Hardyston Township grades B+ overall, better than 69% of U.S. towns and #205 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A− for health, A 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.
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