Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Kenilworth grades B overall, ranked 235th of 466 in New Jersey. It has 7 miles of trail. The median household earns $119K and crime is low: it reports less per resident than 80% of U.S. towns. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $625K, 6.3 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Kenilworth’s trail density is 3.2 miles per square mile, above both New Jersey’s towns (0.7) and U.S. towns (0.4). Kenilworth is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns. Oswald J. Nitschke House is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Kenilworth beats most towns.
19.7% of the town is conserved land, across 3 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Kenilworth is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 95% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 3%), so the B overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 779 in 1910, 8,427 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Kenilworth. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw18 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw17 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw18 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw15 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 Kenilworth, 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 Kenilworth.
Kenilworth reports less crime than Cranford Township or any other graded neighbor, draws workers from Elizabeth and beyond and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in New Jersey.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Blackbrook Park | 0.1 mi | 12 |
| 2. Michigan Park | 0.1 mi | 4 |
| 3. Sixteenth Street Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Kenilworth School District. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is David Brearley Middle/High School, with 774 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warren G. Harding Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 659 | C+ |
| David Brearley Middle/High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 774 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
6,063 jobs are based in Kenilworth, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Kenilworth for work: only 7% work in town. At $119,000, Kenilworth’s median household income is near the New Jersey town median ($113,000) and above the median of U.S. towns ($80,000). Jobs based in Kenilworth fell to 6,063 in 2023, 925 fewer than in 2013.
| Kenilworth | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $119,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6.4% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its A− tops all 4 graded towns on its borders; Cranford Township (A−) comes closest. At 8.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 68% of New Jersey’s graded towns.
Kenilworth’s violent crime rate is 0.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Kenilworth | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.3 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Within New Jersey it is less healthy than 72% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar. All 4 graded neighbors score healthier than its B+, from Union Township (A−) to Cranford Township (A+).
Kenilworth tracks New Jersey closely on all 32 CDC measures. 17% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Kenilworth.
| Kenilworth | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 23% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 36% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 78% | 79% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
154 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 12 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 68% of U.S. communities. Since 1984, 154 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Kenilworth.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Kenilworth has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 24° and about 24 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median rent in Kenilworth is $2,023 a month. The typical Kenilworth home is worth about $625,000, up 3.8% in a year, 9% above the New Jersey typical home.
| Kenilworth | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,023 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 75% | 77% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
37 within 15 miles of the center of Kenilworth
About 6 of every 100 Kenilworth residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
Where Kenilworth’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Borough in Union County, New Jersey, US
Kenilworth is a borough in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 8,427, an increase of 513 (+6.5%) from the 2010 census count of 7,914, which in turn reflected an increase of 239 (+3.1%) from the 7,675 counted in the 2000 census. Kenilworth was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 13, 1907, from portions of Cranford and Union Township, based on the results of a referendum held on June 18, 1907.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Kenilworth.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenilworth | #235 | B | D− | A− | C+ | B+ |
| Union Township | #290 | B− | D | B− | C+ | A− |
| Cranford Township | #55 | A | D | A− | A− | A+ |
| Roselle Park | #153 | A− | D | A− | B− | A |
| Springfield Township | #177 | A− | D | B+ | B | A+ |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Kenilworth grades B overall, better than 62% of U.S. towns and #235 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades B+ for health, A− 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−.
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