Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Morris Plains grades A overall, 80th of 466 graded towns in New Jersey. It is among the healthiest towns in the country on CDC estimates. The median household earns $155K and its schools rank ahead of 79% of New Jersey towns. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $729K, 7.3 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 72% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Morris Plains, against 45% in New Jersey’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns. Morris Plains is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns. Morris Plains Station is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Morris Plains beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Morris Plains | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 3.6% | 9.6% |
5,532 counted in 2010 and 6,153 in 2020; an estimated 6,586 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 7.2% since 2020, after 11.2% 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 Morris Plains is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,713 in 1930, 6,153 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1907 and 7 maps from 1888 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Morris Plains. Close and well known come first.
Big draw26 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw27 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw26 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw27 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw26 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 Morris Plains, 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 Morris Plains.
Morris Plains has less tooth loss than most of New Jersey, has added a third more jobs in ten years and is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s.
Its widest gap with New Jersey is tooth loss: 3.6% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9.6% statewide.
Morris Plains beats the New Jersey average on 22 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 9.2% of Morris Plains adults report frequent physical distress.
| Morris Plains | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 28% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.2% | 12% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.2% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Morris Plains | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 3.6% | 9.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.2% | 14.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.2% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Morris Plains School District. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morris Plains Borough SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 3–8 | Grades 3–8 | 398 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests
1.6 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Community Park, at 25 acres.
| Morris Plains | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.2% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Community Park | — | 25 |
| 2. Simon's Park | — | 9 |
| 3. Morris Plains Memorial Park | 0.1 mi | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Morris Plains’ median rent is $2,835 a month. The typical Morris Plains home is worth about $729,000, up 4.2% in a year, 27% above the New Jersey typical home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 11.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 55% of New Jersey’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 0 reported in 2025, 0 per 1,000 residents.
The violent crime rate in Morris Plains is 0 per 1,000 residents.
| Morris Plains | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 9.5 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 71% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Morris Plains.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Morris Plains has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 20° and about 24 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here grew from 3,471 in 2013 to 4,589. 30.2% of workers work from home, against 16.8% across New Jersey.
Most working residents leave Morris Plains for work: only 5% work in town. Jobs based in Morris Plains grew to 4,589 in 2023, 1,118 more than in 2013. 3.2% of residents live below the poverty line in Morris Plains.
| Morris Plains | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $155,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.2% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 5% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
13 within 15 miles of the center of Morris Plains
About 4 of every 100 Morris Plains residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
6 notable people were born in Morris Plains.
Borough in Morris County, New Jersey, US
Morris Plains is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,153, an increase of 621 (+11.2%) from the 2010 census count of 5,532, which in turn reflected an increase of 296 (+5.7%) from the 5,236 counted in the 2000 census. Morris Plains was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 15, 1926, from portions of Hanover Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 15, 1926. The borough's name comes from Lewis Morris, colonial governor of New Jersey. Morris Plains serves as a bedroom community, with many residents traveling to work in New York City. The Morristo…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Morris Plains.
It grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Parsippany-Troy Hills Township (A) comes closest.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morris Plains | #80 | A | D− | B+ | A− | A+ |
| Parsippany-Troy Hills Township | #114 | A | D | B+ | A− | A+ |
| Morris Township | #200 | B+ | D | — | C+ | A+ |
| Hanover Township | #169 | A− | D− | B | B+ | A+ |
| Cedar Knolls | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Morris Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Cedar Knolls isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Morris Plains with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Morris Plains grades A overall, better than 90% of U.S. towns and #80 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health, B+ for safety and A− 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−.
6 notable people were born here, including Arthur Whitney and Charles Willison Johnson.
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