Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Northvale is one of the best-graded places in America: an A, 49th of 466 graded towns in New Jersey. Residents are healthier than 95% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, crime is low: it reports less per resident than 86% of U.S. towns, and the median household earns $128K. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $785K for a typical one and 7.9 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Northvale is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns. 52% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Northvale, where New Jersey’s towns sit at 45% and U.S. towns at 29%. Haring-Blauvelt House is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Northvale beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Northvale is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 387 in 1900, 4,761 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 5 maps from 1937 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Northvale. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw18 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw16 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw17 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw13 mi Stadium & arenaYankee StadiumCentral Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Madison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Yankee Stadium: Matt Boulton, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Northvale, 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 Northvale.
Northvale carries less natural-hazard risk than most of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding) and sends many workers across the state line to Orangetown, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New Jersey.
Its widest gap with New Jersey is tooth loss: 6% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9.6% statewide.
14% of Northvale adults have been diagnosed with depression. Northvale beats the New Jersey average on 15 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 23% of Northvale adults have obesity.
| Northvale | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 28% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 12% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 17% |
| What stands out | Northvale | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6% | 9.6% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4.4% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Northvale Public School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northvale Public SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 540 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 37 to 23 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 0 reported in 2025, 0 per 1,000 residents.
Northvale’s violent crime rate is 0 per 1,000 residents.
| Northvale | 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) | 4.6 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
At 7.9 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $785K) costs more against local pay than in 79% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living.
The median rent in Northvale is $1,932 a month. Typical home values rose 7.4% in the year to September 2026.
| Northvale | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,932 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 77% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 87% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $332 per resident a year; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1994, 42 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Northvale.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Northvale has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 23° and about 33 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
39% of working residents cross a state line to work, Orangetown among the top destinations. Northvale has about as many jobs (2,767) as working residents, but only 124 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Northvale for work: only 5% work in town. Since 2013, Northvale has lost 566 jobs, to 2,767 in 2023. 4.7% of residents live below the poverty line in Northvale.
| Northvale | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $128,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.7% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 15% | 17% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 18 to 34 are 17% of residents (21% statewide). Northvale has grown 4.4% since 2020, to 4,978 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 52% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 44% across New Jersey.
| Northvale | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 44.3 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 23% | 21% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 19% | 18% | 18% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.8 points. Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women.
| Northvale | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.3% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.6% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.7% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.8% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.4% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.1% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.7% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 12.4% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.9% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 34.8% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.2% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 5,000, single groups can be off by several points
| Northvale | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.7% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. John L. Hogan Memorial Park | 0.4 mi | 8 |
| 2. Veterans Memorial Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
59 within 15 miles of the center of Northvale
About 4 of every 100 Northvale residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
Borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, US
Northvale is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,761, an increase of 121 (+2.6%) from the 2010 census count of 4,640, which in turn reflected an increase of 180 (+4.0%) from the 4,460 counted in the 2000 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Northvale.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northvale | #49 | A | D | A | A− | A |
| Norwood | #64 | A | D− | — | A | A+ |
| Rockleigh | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Old Tappan | #7 | A+ | D− | A | A | A+ |
Norwood reports no FBI crime data of its own. Rockleigh isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Northvale with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Northvale grades A overall, better than 94% of U.S. towns and #49 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A for health, A 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.
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