Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
New Brunswick grades D− overall, ranked 458th of 466 in New Jersey, mostly because of schools and safety. Its schools rank behind 98% of the state's. It reports more crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns, including 228 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. In its favor, few places in the country are easier to get around without a car. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 96% of U.S. towns, with 21 places on the National Register. 32% of residents live below the poverty line in New Brunswick, against 6% in New Jersey’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. On incomes, just 24 of New Jersey’s 530 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Old Queen's and New Jersey Hall.
Where New Brunswick beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Old Queen's| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Blanquita B. Valenti Community School | K–8 | 810 |
| A Chester Redshaw School | PK–5 | 678 |
| Paul Robeson Community School for the Arts | PK–8 | 624 |
Old Queen's is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier. Its 21 National Register listings are more than in 98% of New Jersey towns with a listing.
Census counts: 5,866 in 1840, 55,266 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1750 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far New Brunswick is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for schools (better than 2%), so the D− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around New Brunswick. Close and well known come first.
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw32 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw31 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw25 mi BeachConey Island
Big draw32 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 New Brunswick, 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 New Brunswick.
New Brunswick is shaped by its college students and draws workers from Franklin Township and beyond, but it reports more crime than Edison Township and its other graded neighbors.
8.5 miles of trail in 12 parks and preserves. The trail density in New Brunswick is 1.5 miles per square mile. Buccleuch Park, at 79 acres with 1.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| New Brunswick | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.5 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7.7% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Elmer B Boyd Park | 2.3 mi | 32 |
| 2. Buccleuch Park | 1.1 mi | 79 |
| 3. Voorhees Mall | 0.7 mi | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Each of its 6 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its D−, East Brunswick Township highest at A−.
Its public schools are run by the New Brunswick School District. Two of its 14 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Brunswick Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 829 | D |
| New Brunswick High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,443 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
46,778 jobs are based in New Brunswick, 2.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 23.3 minutes, against 30.5 across New Jersey.
Most working residents leave New Brunswick for work: only 15% work in town. New Brunswick’s median household income is $66,000. Since 2013, New Brunswick has added 11,026 jobs, to 46,778 in 2023.
| New Brunswick | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $66,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Work from home | 11% | 17% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Each of the 5 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Edison Township (C+) to Franklin Township (B+). Reported crimes fell from 2,198 to 1,167 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
New Brunswick reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 91% report less.
| New Brunswick | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.9 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 16.2 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 77% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 82 flood insurance claims have been paid out in New Brunswick.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
All 6 graded neighbors score healthier than its C, from North Brunswick Township (B+) to Highland Park (A+).
21% of New Brunswick adults report frequent mental distress. No town among the 468 in New Jersey we compare has a higher share of adults who feel lonely than New Brunswick. 28% of New Brunswick adults say their health is fair or poor.
| New Brunswick | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 15% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 32% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 11% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | New Brunswick | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3% | 7.5% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 14.8% | 22.2% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 33.9% | 14.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; North Brunswick Township is next at $544K.
21% of households own their home in New Brunswick. The typical New Brunswick home is worth about $439,000, about the same as a year ago, 24% below the New Jersey typical home. 59% of renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent in New Brunswick.
| New Brunswick | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 21% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,814 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 59% | 52% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
New Brunswick 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
9 within 15 miles of the center of New Brunswick
College town 24 of every 100 New Brunswick residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
21 places in New Brunswick on the National Register of Historic Places.
42 notable people were born in New Brunswick.
City in Middlesex County, New Jersey, US
New Brunswick is a city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A regional commercial hub for Central New Jersey, the city is both a college town (the main campus of Rutgers University, the state's largest university) and a commuter town for residents working in New York City within the New York metropolitan area. The New Brunswick station is a major stop for NJ Transit on the Northeast Corridor rail line, 33 miles (53 km) southwest of New York Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. The city is located on the southern banks of the Raritan River, in the heart of the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 55,266, …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with New Brunswick.
All 6 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D−; North Brunswick Township (B−) is closest.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Brunswick | #458 | D− | D | D | D− | C |
| Highland Park | #248 | B | D | B | C+ | A+ |
| Edison Township | #210 | B+ | D | C+ | A− | A |
| Franklin Township | #246 | B | D | B+ | C | A |
| East Brunswick Township | #163 | A− | D | B− | A− | A |
| East Franklin | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Piscataway Township | #229 | B | D | — | B | A |
| North Brunswick Township | #311 | B− | D | B− | C+ | B+ |
Piscataway Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. East Franklin isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare New Brunswick with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
New Brunswick grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns and #458 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades C for health, D for safety and D− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D−.
42 notable people were born here, including Michael Douglas and Paul Wesley.
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