Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A good place to live, if you can afford it. With an A overall, Montclair Township is better than 86% of U.S. towns and ranks 126th of 466 in New Jersey. Its strongest subject is health (A+). Add walkability to its strengths (A+). What holds it back is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.2 million, 11.6 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Its National Register listings include Presby Memorial Iris Gardens Horticultural Center and Mountain Avenue Station. On civic life, just 32 of New Jersey’s 527 towns do better. Nearly three quarters of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in the town, above both New Jersey’s towns (45%) and U.S. towns (29%).
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Montclair Township beats most towns.
Montclair Railroad Station| Widest gap | Montclair Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.8% | 11.3% |
Its 54 National Register listings are more than in any other New Jersey town with a listing.
Census counts: 2,853 in 1870, 40,921 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1873 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Montclair Township is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 3%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Montclair Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw7 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw13 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw13 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw13 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw13 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw13 mi MuseumNational September 11 Memorial & MuseumMetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Madison 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 · 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 Montclair 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 Montclair Township.
Montclair Township carries less natural-hazard risk than most of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding) and is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New Jersey.
At 11.6 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $1.16M) costs more against local pay than in 93% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
In Montclair Township, the median rent is $2,063 a month. Typical home values rose 8.9% in the year to September 2026. 57% of households own their home locally.
| Montclair Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 57% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $2,063 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Below: Three of its 18 schools, each with why it was picked. Its public schools are run by the Montclair Public School District. 6 public schools serve Montclair Township, with 2,684 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillside Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 684 | A− |
| Montclair High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,925 | A− |
| Charles H. Bullock SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 438 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with New Jersey is no health insurance: 6.8% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 11.3% statewide.
The share of adults in Montclair Township who have been diagnosed with depression: 16%. In Montclair Township, 9.1% of adults report frequent physical distress, and 23% have obesity.
| Montclair Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 32% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.1% | 12% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 28% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.2% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Montclair Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.8% | 11.3% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.1% | 9.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Montclair Township’s trail density is 1.3 miles per square mile. Across 20 parks and preserves: 8.2 miles of trail. Eagle Rock Reservation, at 54 acres with 1.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Montclair Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.3 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7.2% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Eagle Rock Reservation | 1.7 mi | 54 |
| 2. Mills Reservation | 1.3 mi | 30 |
| 3. Glenfield Park | 0.9 mi | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 89% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $222 per resident a year; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on. 223 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 29 properties have flooded more than once.
The FEMA hazard score for Montclair Township comes to 20 of 100. Since 1978, 223 flood insurance claims have been paid out here. Nearly two thirds of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by heat waves at 9%. Federal aid has come to Montclair Township households in 12 declared disasters; the latest was in 2021.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 11.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 56% of New Jersey’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 32 reported in 2025, 0.8 per 1,000 residents.
For Montclair Township, the violent crime rate is 0.8 per 1,000 residents. In Montclair Township, the property crime rate is 7.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Montclair Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.8 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.9 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
In July, afternoons reach 86°; in January, nights fall to 22°, and about 24 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Montclair Township has about as many jobs (17,700) as working residents, but only 1,595 people both live and work here. 35.5% of workers work from home, against 16.8% across New Jersey.
The top destinations are New York (20%), Newark (6%) and Jersey City (3%). For Montclair Township, the median household income is $151,000. Most people who work leave Montclair Township to do it: just 9% work in town.
| Montclair Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 36% | 16% | 11% |
| Median household income | $151,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 36 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.5% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
83 within 15 miles of the center of Montclair Township
About 5 of every 100 Montclair Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
54 places in Montclair Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
41 notable people were born in Montclair Township.
Township in Essex County, New Jersey, US
Montclair is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse bedroom community of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. The township is home to Montclair State University, the state's second-largest university. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 40,921, an increase of 3,252 (+8.6%) from the 2010 census count of 37,669, which in turn reflected a decline of 1,308 (−3.4%) from the 38,977 counted in the 2000 census. As of 2010, it was the 60th-most-populous municipality in New Jersey.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Montclair Township.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montclair Township | #126 | A | D− | B+ | B+ | A+ |
| Upper Montclair | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Cedar Grove Township | #60 | A | D | A | B+ | A+ |
| Verona Township | #68 | A | D | A | B+ | A+ |
| West Orange Township | #256 | B | D− | B− | C+ | A |
| Glen Ridge | #70 | A | D | B | A | A+ |
| Montclair State University | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Clifton | #341 | C+ | D | — | C− | B+ |
Clifton reports no FBI crime data of its own. Upper Montclair and Montclair State University aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Montclair Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Montclair Township grades A overall, better than 86% of U.S. towns and #126 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health, B+ 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−.
41 notable people were born here, including Joshua Lederberg and Kal Penn.
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