Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Ridgefield Park's standout: few places in the country are easier to get around without a car. Overall it grades B−, 274th among New Jersey's 466 graded towns. 10% of its land is conserved. Its weakest subject is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $606K for a typical one and 6.1 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 90% of U.S. towns, with 1 place on the National Register. Paulison-Christie House is on the National Register of Historic Places. 60% of households own their home in Ridgefield Park, below both New Jersey’s towns (77%) and U.S. towns (73%). The biggest park or preserve is Overpeck Park, at 86 acres.
Where Ridgefield Park beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,987 in 1900, 13,224 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Ridgefield Park is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 8%), so the B− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Ridgefield Park. Close and well known come first.
Big draw6 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw7 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw4 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw7 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw6 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 Park, 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 Park.
Ridgefield Park trades workers with New York City and other neighbors, is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in New Jersey.
Within New Jersey it is less healthy than 68% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar.
30% of Ridgefield Park adults have obesity. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Ridgefield Park is ahead of New Jersey on 2 and behind on 3. Two figures for adults locally: 41% sleep under 7 hours, 35% feel lonely.
| Ridgefield Park | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 23% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 36% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Ridgefield Park | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.3% | 7.5% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 19.7% | 22.2% |
| More uninsured adults | 15.3% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The public schools here belong to the Ridgefield Park Public School District. The largest public high school is Ridgefield Park Jr Sr High School, with 1,159 students. Two of the 5 schools are below, and why each made the list.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 346 | C |
| Ridgefield Park Jr Sr High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 1,159 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Walkers can cover 1.1 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. Ridgefield Park’s density of trails is 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Overpeck Park | 0.9 mi | 86 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expect July afternoons of 87° and January nights of 24°, with about 28 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 13 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 52% of New Jersey’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 203 to 81 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The level of violent crime for Ridgefield Park comes to 0.4 per 1,000 residents. For Ridgefield Park, the level of property crime is 5.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Ridgefield Park | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.4 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Ridgefield Park has about as many jobs (5,792) as working residents, but only 403 people both live and work here. Jobs based here grew from 3,840 in 2013 to 5,792.
Just 7% of Ridgefield Park’s working residents have a job in town. Jobs based in Ridgefield Park grew to 5,792 in 2023, 1,952 more than in 2013. The share of residents in Ridgefield Park who live below the poverty line: 12%. Half commute less than 10 miles.
| Ridgefield Park | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $101,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 13% | 17% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Nearly a quarter of residents are under 18 in Ridgefield Park. No broad age group is more than 4 points off the New Jersey average. The median age locally is 39.6 years.
| Ridgefield Park | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 45% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 23% | 21% | 22% |
| Median age | 39.6 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.6 points. Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women.
| Ridgefield Park | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.8% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.1% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.9% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.4% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.5% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.2% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.6% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.6% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.7% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12.1% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.3% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.2% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.4% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.1% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Over the 12 months to September 2026, the typical home gained 2.6% in value. Ridgefield Park’s typical rent stands at $1,731 a month.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
202 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 47 properties have flooded more than once.
202 flood insurance claims have been paid in Ridgefield Park since 1978. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage locally than in 52% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 73% come from inland flooding and 6% from earthquakes. Federal aid has come to Ridgefield Park households in 10 declared disasters; the latest was in 2021.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
112 within 15 miles of the center of Ridgefield Park
About 6 of every 100 Ridgefield Park residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
6 notable people were born in Ridgefield Park.
Village in Bergen County, New Jersey, US
Ridgefield Park is a village in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the village's population was 13,224, an increase of 495 (+3.9%) from the 2010 census count of 12,729, which in turn reflected a decline of 144 (−1.1%) from the 12,873 counted in the 2000 census. Of the 564 municipalities in the state, Ridgefield Park is one of only four with a village type of government, though it operates a Walsh Act (city commission) form of government. Of the four New Jersey villages, Loch Arbour also uses the commission form of government, while Ridgewood operates under the council-manager form, and the Township of South Orange Village operates under a sp…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Ridgefield Park.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridgefield Park | #274 | B− | D | B+ | B− | B+ |
| Ridgefield | #196 | B+ | D− | A− | B− | A |
| Hackensack | #393 | C− | D− | C | C− | B+ |
| Little Ferry | #333 | C+ | D | — | C | A− |
| Teaneck Township | #201 | B+ | D | B+ | C+ | A |
| Palisades Park | #275 | B− | D− | A− | D | A |
| Bogota | #212 | B+ | D− | A− | B− | A− |
| Leonia | #99 | A | D− | A− | B+ | A+ |
Little Ferry reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Ridgefield Park with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
It grades B+ for health, B+ 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.
6 notable people were born here, including Richard Easterlin and Kevin Larmee.
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