Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 15,259.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Highland Park grades B overall, 248th of 466 graded towns in New Jersey. It is among the most walkable places in the country. Residents are healthier than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and the median household earns $105K. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $591K, 6 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 97% of U.S. towns, with 2 places on the National Register. On history, just 27 of New Jersey’s 530 towns do better. The biggest place to walk is Rutgers Ecological Preserve, 80 acres with 1.9 miles of trail.
Where Highland Park beats most towns.
1% of the town is conserved land, across 4 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Highland Park is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 10%), so the B overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,517 in 1910, 15,072 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1843 and 7 maps from 1888 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Highland Park. Close and well known come first.
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw31 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw30 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw24 mi BeachConey Island
Big draw31 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 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Coney Island: OptimumPx, Public domain · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Highland Park, 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 Highland Park.
Highland Park is mostly renters, has an unusually large share working from home and is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s.
Highland Park sits against 11% in New Jersey’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns on this measure. 6.8 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Donaldson Park | 3 mi | 77 |
| 2. Rutgers Ecological Preserve | 1.9 mi | 80 |
| 3. Johnson Park | 0.8 mi | 50 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Highland Park Boro School District. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Highland Park High School, with 493 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bartle Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 2–5 | Grades 2–5 | 405 | C+ |
| Highland Park High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 493 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
14% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Highland Park. Highland Park beats the New Jersey average on 19 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 9.2% of adults report frequent physical distress in Highland Park.
| Highland Park | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.2% | 12% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.9% | 11% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 35% |
| What stands out | Highland Park | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.7% | 11.3% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.8% | 14.3% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 73.6% | 77.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
26.4% of workers work from home, against 16.8% across New Jersey.
Most working residents leave Highland Park for work: only 5% work in town. 26% of Highland Park workers work from home. The top destinations are New Brunswick (11%), Edison Township (9%) and New York (5%).
| Highland Park | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 26% | 16% | 11% |
| Median household income | $105,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 7.5% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 70% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 57 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Highland Park.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Highland Park has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 23° and about 29 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 15.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 58% of New Jersey’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 214 to 132 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Highland Park’s median rent is $1,873 a month. The typical Highland Park home is worth about $591,000, up 3.3% in a year, close to the New Jersey typical home.
| Highland Park | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 40% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,873 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
9 within 15 miles of the center of Highland Park
About 12 of every 100 Highland Park residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
Where Highland Park’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
2 places in Highland Park on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in Highland Park.
Borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, US
Highland Park is a borough in Middlesex County, in the central region of the U.S. state of New Jersey, in the New York City metropolitan area. The borough is located on the northern banks of the Raritan River, in the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 15,072, an increase of 1,090 (+7.8%) from the 2010 census count of 13,982, which in turn had reflected a decline of 17 (−0.1%) from the 13,999 counted at the 2000 census. Highland Park was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 15, 1905, when it broke away from what was then known as Raritan Township (present-day Edison). The borough was named for its location …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Highland Park.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Park | #248 | B | D | B | C+ | A+ |
| New Brunswick | #458 | D− | D | D | D− | C |
| Edison Township | #210 | B+ | D | C+ | A− | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Highland Park grades B overall, better than 59% of U.S. towns and #248 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health, B 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.
Highland Park has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places. 8 notable people were born here, including Willie Garson and Dwayne Haskins.
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