Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Harrison's standout: few places in the country are easier to get around without a car. Overall it grades C, ranked 357th of 466 in New Jersey. It is healthier than 85% of U.S. towns and 4% of its land is conserved. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $584K, 5.9 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Harrison’s average trip to work is 41 minutes, against 30 minutes in New Jersey’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Only 37 of New Jersey’s 530 towns score lower on hazard risk. Harrison's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 96% of U.S. towns.
Where Harrison beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
13,620 counted in 2010 and 19,450 in 2020; an estimated 22,105 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 13.6% since 2020, after 42.8% 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 Harrison is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 2%), so the C overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,344 in 1850, 19,450 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1907 and 5 maps from 1947 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Harrison. Close and well known come first.
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw10 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw6 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw9 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw10 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw8 mi MuseumNational September 11 Memorial & MuseumMadison 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 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · National September 11 Memorial & Museum: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Harrison, 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 Harrison.
Harrison sends many workers across the state line and is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding).
3.2 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Harrison’s trail density is 2.5 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is West Hudson Park, 38 acres with 2.5 miles of trail.
| Harrison | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.5 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.5% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. West Hudson Park | 2.5 mi | 38 |
| 2. Harrison Riverfront Park | 0.6 mi | 5 |
| 3. Veterans Plaza | 0.1 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its C+ is the best School Grade on its borders; Kearny (C) is next.
Its public schools are run by the Harrison Public Schools. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Harrison High School, with 795 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 466 | C− |
| Harrison High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 795 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Within New Jersey it is less healthy than 54% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar. Its widest gap with New Jersey is cancer: 4% of its 16,104 adults have had cancer, against 7.5% statewide.
24% of adults have high blood pressure in Harrison. Harrison beats the New Jersey average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 14% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Harrison.
| Harrison | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 32% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 78% | 79% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 23% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Harrison | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4% | 7.5% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 13.5% | 22.2% |
| More uninsured adults | 14.9% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 94% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $323 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA risk score in Harrison is 86 of 100. Since 1992, 35 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Harrison.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Only 21.1% of households own their home, against 63.8% across New Jersey.
Adults 18 to 34 are 37% of residents (21% statewide); people 65 and older are 11% of residents (17% statewide). 51% of Harrison adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. Harrison has grown 14% since 2020, to 22,105 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Harrison | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 33.8 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 11% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 51% | 45% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 17% | 21% | 22% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.5 points. Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women. Median age: women 34.5, men 33.5.
| Harrison | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.9% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.1% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.9% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 30.6% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.9% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.8% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.9% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 6.8% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.2% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.5% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22.4% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 8.6% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.8% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.6% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 27.2% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
29% of working residents cross a state line to work. The average commute for its 8,947 working residents takes 40.7 minutes, against 30.5 across New Jersey.
Most working residents leave Harrison for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are New York (31%), Newark (9%) and Jersey City (5%). Half commute less than 12 miles.
| Harrison | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 20% | 16% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $93,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.1% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 27.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 82% of New Jersey’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 533 to 348 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Harrison has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 26° and about 32 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At about $584K, home values are up 16% in five years, against a rise of 35% across New Jersey.
Among 468 New Jersey towns, just 1 have a lower share of households owning their home than Harrison. The typical Harrison home is worth about $584,000, up 0.9% in a year, close to the New Jersey typical home.
| Harrison | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 21% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $2,226 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
125 within 15 miles of the center of Harrison
About 8 of every 100 Harrison residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
4.5% of the town is conserved land, across 3 parks and preserves.
15 notable people were born in Harrison.
Town in Hudson County, New Jersey, US
Harrison is a town in the western part of Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is a suburb of the neighboring city of Newark, and is located 8 miles (13 km) from New York City. Once considered "the beehive of industry", the town is undergoing a residential and economic renewal, particularly along the Passaic River. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 19,450, an increase of 5,830 (+42.8%) from the 2010 census count of 13,620, which in turn reflected a decrease of 804 (−5.6%) from the 14,424 counted in the 2000 census. The Population Estimates Program calculated a population of 22,182 for 2024.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Harrison.
It grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Kearny (C−) comes closest.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison | #357 | C | D− | C | C+ | A− |
| Newark | #453 | D− | D | C− | D | D |
| Kearny | #383 | C− | D | — | C | B |
| East Newark | #433 | D | D− | B− | C | C |
Kearny reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Harrison with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Harrison grades C overall, better than 31% of U.S. towns and #357 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A− 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−.
15 notable people were born here, including Tom Florie and Fred A. Hartley, Jr..
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