Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Mountain Lakes is one of the best-graded places in America: an A+, ranked 11th of 466 in New Jersey. It is among the healthiest towns in the country on CDC estimates, the median household earns $250K, and its schools outperform 91% of the state's. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.2 million, 12.1 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 86% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Mountain Lakes, where New Jersey’s towns sit at 45% and U.S. towns at 29%. Mountain Lakes is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 94% of U.S. towns. Only 18 of New Jersey’s 527 towns score higher on civic life.
Where Mountain Lakes beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Mountain Lakes | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 3% | 9.6% |
Where Mountain Lakes’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Mountain Lakes is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,132 in 1930, 4,472 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 2007 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Mountain Lakes. Close and well known come first.
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw26 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw25 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw26 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 Mountain Lakes, 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 Mountain Lakes.
Mountain Lakes is the healthiest town in New Jersey, has schools in the top 5% of New Jersey and draws workers from Parsippany-Troy Hills Township and beyond.
At 12.1 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $1.2M) costs more against local pay than in 94% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living.
The median rent in Mountain Lakes is $3,501 a month. Typical home values rose 6.8% in the year to September 2026. 96% of Mountain Lakes households own their home.
| Mountain Lakes | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $3,501 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 96% | 77% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A ranks #21 of the 465 New Jersey towns we grade for schools. Its A is the best School Grade on its borders; Boonton Township (A−) is next.
Its public schools are run by the Mountain Lakes Public School District. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Mountain Lakes High School, with 546 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wildwood Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 423 | – |
| Mountain Lakes High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 546 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
7.9 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Mountain Lakes’ trail density is 2.7 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Maple Way Woodlands, 55 acres with 1.5 miles of trail.
| Mountain Lakes | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.7 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.5% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Maple Way Woodlands | 1.5 mi | 55 |
| 2. Tourne County Park | 0.5 mi | 22 |
| 3. Taft Memorial Field | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
It is the healthiest of the 468 New Jersey towns we grade on the CDC estimates behind the Health Grade. Its widest gap with New Jersey is tooth loss: 3% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9.6% statewide.
20% of adults have obesity in Mountain Lakes. Among 468 New Jersey towns, just 8 have a lower share of adults who have diabetes than Mountain Lakes. 14% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Mountain Lakes.
| Mountain Lakes | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 28% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 8.1% | 12% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 5.7% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Mountain Lakes | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 3% | 9.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 4.5% | 14.3% |
| More binge drinkers | 18.6% | 15.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2,815 jobs are based in Mountain Lakes, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 30.8% of workers work from home, against 16.8% across New Jersey.
Only 7 of the 468 New Jersey towns we compare have a higher median household income than Mountain Lakes. Since 2013, Mountain Lakes has added 497 jobs, to 2,815 in 2023. Most working residents leave Mountain Lakes for work: only 6% work in town.
| Mountain Lakes | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $250,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 1.3% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.5% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 75% of U.S. communities. Since 1990, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Mountain Lakes.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Mountain Lakes has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 20° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Mountain Lakes's reported crime rate is well below New Jersey's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2025.
| Mountain Lakes | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.9 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.4 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
14 within 15 miles of the center of Mountain Lakes
About 4 of every 100 Mountain Lakes residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
6.5% of the town is conserved land, across 3 parks and preserves.
2 places in Mountain Lakes on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Mountain Lakes.
Borough in Morris County, New Jersey, US
Mountain Lakes is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and a suburb of New York City. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,472, an increase of 312 (+7.5%) from the 2010 census count of 4,160, which in turn had reflected a decline of 96 (−2.3%) from the 4,256 recorded at the 2000 census. Originally a planned community, the borough was named for a pair of lakes which served to distinguish Mountain Lakes as "the first year-round residential lake community in northwestern New Jersey." Mountain Lakes was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 3, 1924, from portions of Boonton Township and Hanover Township,…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Mountain Lakes.
At #11 in NJ, it grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Boonton Township (A) comes closest.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Lakes | #11 | A+ | C− | — | A | A+ |
| Parsippany-Troy Hills Township | #114 | A | D | B+ | A− | A+ |
| Boonton | #234 | B | D | B+ | B | A |
| Rainbow Lakes | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Parsippany | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Boonton Township | #73 | A | C− | A+ | A− | A+ |
Mountain Lakes reports no FBI crime data of its own. Rainbow Lakes and Parsippany aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Mountain Lakes with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Mountain Lakes grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #11 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
3 notable people were born here, including Frederick Elmes and Brittany Underwood.
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