Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Saddle River grades A− overall, 145th of 466 graded towns in New Jersey. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 98% of the country and its public schools beat 97% of New Jersey towns on state tests and graduation. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $2.4 million for a typical one and 24.4 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Saddle River’s typical home value is $2,416,000, above both New Jersey’s towns ($602,000) and U.S. towns ($332,000). Only 24 of New Jersey’s 530 towns score lower on walkability. Its National Register listings include Achenbach House and Abram Ackerman House.
Where Saddle River beats most towns.
Its 22 National Register listings are more than in 98% of New Jersey towns with a listing.
Census counts: 415 in 1900, 3,372 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1707 and 5 maps from 1910 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Saddle River is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for health (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 1%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Saddle River. Close and well known come first.
Big draw18 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw19 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw18 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw26 mi MuseumUnited States Military AcademyCentral 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 · United States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Saddle River, 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 Saddle River.
Saddle River has schools in the top 5% of New Jersey and has less food insecurity than most of New Jersey, but it reports more crime than Woodcliff Lake and its other graded neighbors.
At 24.4 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $2.42M) costs more against local pay than in any other New Jersey town; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living. Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Upper Saddle River is next at $1.48M.
Typical home values rose 13% in the year to September 2026. The typical Saddle River home is worth about $2,416,000, up 13.3% in a year, 4 times the New Jersey typical home. 84% of households own their home in Saddle River.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A+ ranks #5 of the 465 New Jersey towns we grade for schools. Its A+ for schools comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $2.42M.
Its public schools are run by the Saddle River School District. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wandell SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 116 | A |
| Saddle River Day School PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 480 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests
Its widest gap with New Jersey is food insecurity: 5.6% of its 2,801 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.3% statewide. Against the 831 U.S. towns with household incomes like Saddle River’s, it is healthier than 68%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
83% of Saddle River adults had a checkup this year. Saddle River beats the New Jersey average on 19 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 5.2% of Saddle River adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Saddle River | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 28% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 6% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Saddle River | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.6% | 14.3% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 2.9% | 7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.4% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Saddle River is safe by national standards, yet each of the 4 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Woodcliff Lake (A) to Hillsdale (A+). At 9.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 65% of New Jersey’s graded towns.
The violent crime rate in Saddle River is 0 per 1,000 residents.
| Saddle River | 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) | 3.8 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
25% of workers work from home, against 16.8% across New Jersey.
Most working residents leave Saddle River for work: only 3% work in town. Saddle River’s median household income is $212,000. The top destinations are New York (22%), Paramus (4%) and Hackensack (4%).
| Saddle River | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $212,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.3% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.9% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Saddle River has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 22° and about 33 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 61% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 67 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Saddle River.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Saddle River | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.6% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rindlaub Park | 0.5 mi | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
38 within 15 miles of the center of Saddle River
About 9 of every 100 Saddle River residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
Where Saddle River’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
22 places in Saddle River on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Saddle River.
Borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, US
Saddle River is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of New York City, located just over 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Manhattan. The town is known for its natural fields, farmland, horse farms, forests, and rivers, and has a bucolic atmosphere, due in part to a minimum zoning requirement of 2 acres (0.81 ha) for homes. The borough contains both stately historic homes and estates, as well as newer mansions. It offers many spacious properties in a countryside-like setting, while also having proximity to New York City. Saddle River is one of the highest-income small municipalities in the United States and was ranked 9th in New Jersey in per capita income…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Saddle River.
All 6 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its A−; Upper Saddle River (A) is closest.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saddle River | #145 | A− | D− | A− | A+ | A+ |
| Waldwick | #22 | A+ | D | A+ | B+ | A+ |
| Allendale | #3 | A+ | D− | A | A+ | A+ |
| Woodcliff Lake | #24 | A+ | D | A | A | A+ |
| Upper Saddle River | #79 | A | D− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Ho-Ho-Kus | #31 | A+ | D | — | A+ | A+ |
| Hillsdale | #8 | A+ | D | A+ | A− | A+ |
Upper Saddle River and Ho-Ho-Kus report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Saddle River with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Saddle River grades A− overall, better than 83% of U.S. towns and #145 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. The typical home is worth about $2,416,000, 320% above the New Jersey typical home and up 13.3% in a year. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
3 notable people were born here, including Danielle Schulmann and Jeremy Glick.
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