Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,547, settled in 1875.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Ridgefield grades B+ overall, ranked 196th of 466 in New Jersey. It is among the most walkable places in the country. Residents are healthier than 94% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and the median household earns $118K. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $772K, 7.8 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Ridgefield’s median rent is $2,095 a month, above both the New Jersey town median ($1,778 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Ridgefield's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 92% of U.S. towns.
Where Ridgefield beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Ridgefield | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5% | 7% |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Ridgefield is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 2%), so the B+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 584 in 1900, 11,501 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1909 and 8 maps from 1892 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Ridgefield. Close and well known come first.
Big draw4 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw6 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw3 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw5 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw4 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw5 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 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Yankee Stadium: Matt Boulton, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ridgefield, 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 Ridgefield.
Ridgefield trades workers with New York City and other neighbors 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.
Within New Jersey it is healthier than 69% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar.
Two figures for adults in Ridgefield: 24% have obesity, 10% report frequent physical distress. Among adults locally, 13% have been diagnosed with depression.
| Ridgefield | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 28% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 12% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Ridgefield | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5% | 7% |
| Fewer smokers | 8% | 10.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Ridgefield School District. Of its 4 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. The largest public high school is Ridgefield Memorial High School, with 512 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slocum Skewes SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 3–8 | Grades 3–8 | 654 | B |
| Ridgefield Memorial High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 512 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
At 7.8 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $773K) costs more against local pay than in 78% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living.
For households in Ridgefield, the share who live in a home they own is 51%. Values rose 7.4% in the 12 months to September 2026. Homes sold in Ridgefield spent a median 27 days on the market.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 9.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 62% of New Jersey’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 124 to 86 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The level of violent crime in Ridgefield is 0.2 per 1,000 residents. The property crime rate locally is 7.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Ridgefield | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.2 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
106 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 15 properties have flooded more than once.
Three quarters of Ridgefield’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding. Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 72% of U.S. communities. Paid flood insurance claims here since 1978: 106.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 25° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Ridgefield has about as many jobs (4,613) as working residents, but only 333 people both live and work here.
In Ridgefield, 5.1% of residents live below the poverty line. Just 7% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. The top destinations are New York (26%), Jersey City (3%) and Hackensack (3%). Jobs in Ridgefield grew by 243 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 4,613.
| Ridgefield | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $118,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5.1% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 14% | 17% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
0.7 miles of trail wind through 1 park or preserve. For Ridgefield, the concentration of trails is 0.2 miles per square mile. The town has one park or preserve, 8 acres in all.
| Ridgefield | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.1% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Willis Park | — | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
18% of residents are under 18 in Ridgefield. By age, Ridgefield looks like New Jersey: each broad group is within 4 points. College graduates make up 47% of adults 25 and older, against 44% across New Jersey.
| Ridgefield | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 18% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 47% | 45% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| Median age | 39.8 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.9 points. Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women.
| Ridgefield | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.7% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.4% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.3% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.4% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.2% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.3% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.3% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.3% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.1% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.8% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.8% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.7% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.3% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 29.2% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.3% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
132 within 15 miles of the center of Ridgefield
About 7 of every 100 Ridgefield residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
Borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, US
Ridgefield 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 11,501, an increase of 469 (+4.3%) from the 2010 census count of 11,032, which in turn reflected an increase of 202 (+1.9%) from the 10,830 counted in the 2000 census. Ridgefield was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 26, 1892, from portions of Ridgefield Township. The borough was named for the area's terrain.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Ridgefield.
It grades higher overall than all 7 graded towns on its borders; Cliffside Park (B) comes closest.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridgefield | #196 | B+ | D− | A− | B− | A |
| North Bergen Township | #375 | C− | D− | B | D | B− |
| Fairview | #440 | D− | D | — | D− | C+ |
| Ridgefield Park | #274 | B− | D | B+ | B− | B+ |
| Little Ferry | #333 | C+ | D | — | C | A− |
| Carlstadt | #291 | B− | D | B | B− | A− |
| Cliffside Park | #263 | B | D− | B+ | C+ | A− |
| Palisades Park | #275 | B− | D− | A− | D | A |
Fairview and Little Ferry report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Ridgefield with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Ridgefield grades B+ overall, better than 71% of U.S. towns and #196 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A for health, A− 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−.
2 notable people were born here, including Chris Lema and Bob Schroder.
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