Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Roseland’s strongest is health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 98% of the country. What holds it back is cost of living — the typical home is worth about $820K, 8.3 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. All told, that adds up to an A overall and a rank of 96th of 466 in New Jersey. That leaves it better than 89% of U.S. towns. On civic life, just 45 of New Jersey’s 527 towns do better. 72% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in the town, where New Jersey’s towns sit at 45% and U.S. towns at 29%. The median household earns $164K. Roseland's schools outperform 85% of the state's.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · schools, state test and graduation results.
Where Roseland beats most towns.
Where Roseland’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 Roseland is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 486 in 1910, 6,299 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1969 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Roseland. Close and well known come first.
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw18 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw18 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw18 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw17 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 Roseland, 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 Roseland.
Roseland draws workers from Newark and beyond and has less food insecurity than most of New Jersey, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New Jersey.
The biggest park or preserve is West Essex Park, at 272 acres. 5.5 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves. For Roseland, the trail network density is 1.5 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Essex County Environmental Center | 1.3 mi | 26 |
| 2. Becker Park | 1 mi | 151 |
| 3. Walter Kidde Dinosaur Park | 0.6 mi | 16 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
That grade comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $820K.
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. The Roseland School District runs its public schools. Its only public school teaches 451 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lester C NoeckerLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 451 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with New Jersey is food insecurity: 6.4% of its 5,137 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.3% statewide.
For adults in Roseland, the share who worry about having enough food is 6.4%. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Roseland is ahead of New Jersey on 21 and behind on 2. In Roseland, just over one in ten adults report frequent mental distress, and 30% sleep under 7 hours.
| Roseland | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 28% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 36% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.1% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Roseland | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.4% | 14.3% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 6% | 12.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.5% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
7,494 jobs are based in Roseland, 2.4 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here fell from 10,548 in 2013 to 7,494.
Among residents in Roseland, 2.5% live below the poverty line. Just 5% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. Jobs based in the town fell to 7,494 in 2023, 3,054 fewer than in 2013. For Roseland, the average trip to work is 33 minutes.
| Roseland | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $164,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 2.5% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.7% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 8.3 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $820K) costs more against local pay than in 81% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 2.9%. Roseland’s median rent stands at $3,297 a month. 82% of households are owner-occupiers in the town.
| Roseland | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $3,297 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 82% | 77% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expect July afternoons of 86° and January nights of 22°, with about 24 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Roseland's reported crime rate is well below New Jersey's. In Roseland, the rate of reported violence is 0.2 per 1,000 residents. Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2024.
| Roseland | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 0.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.7 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 7.5 per 1,000 residents | 8.9 | 11.5 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
77% of Roseland’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by heat waves at 6%. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage locally than in 53% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, Roseland has seen 24 flood insurance claims paid out.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
30 within 15 miles of the center of Roseland
About 3 of every 100 Roseland residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
Borough in Essex County, New Jersey, US
Roseland is a borough in western Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,299, an increase of 480 (+8.2%) from the 2010 census count of 5,819, which in turn reflected an increase of 521 (+9.8%) from the 5,298 counted in the 2000 census. In 2015, New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Roseland as its seventh-best place to live in its "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey rankings. The borough was ranked 14th best place to live in the magazine's 2008 rankings. In 2017, New Jersey Monthly Ranked Roseland as its 106th best place to live in its 2017 Rankings. New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Roseland as its 14th best place to …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Roseland.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roseland | #96 | A | D | — | A | A+ |
| Livingston Township | #39 | A+ | D | B+ | A | A+ |
| Essex Fells | — | — | D− | B | A | A+ |
| East Hanover Township | #190 | B+ | D− | B− | A− | A+ |
| West Caldwell Township | #69 | A | D | A− | A− | A+ |
Essex Fells has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Roseland reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Roseland with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Roseland grades A overall, better than 89% of U.S. towns and #96 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health 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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