Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The picture is mixed. Its weakest is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $532K, 5.4 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. It does especially well on safety (A): it reports less crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns. All told, that adds up to a C+ overall and a rank of 330th of 466 in New Jersey. On that grade it does better than nearly two fifths of U.S. towns. South River's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 94% of U.S. towns. This New Jersey town has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Old School Baptist Church and Cemetery and St. Mary's Church. The town’s typical journey to work is 32 minutes, against 30 minutes in New Jersey’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns.
Figures: FBI crime data, 2025 · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
Where South River beats most towns.
Old School Baptist Church and CemeteryWhere South River’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 South River is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,081 in 1880, 16,118 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1882 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around South River. Close and well known come first.
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw32 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw23 mi BeachConey Island
Big draw30 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw32 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a yearMadison 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 · Coney Island: OptimumPx, Public domain · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in South 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 South River.
South River is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in New Jersey; it also has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Public schools: the South River Public School District. The largest public high school is South River High School, with 716 students. Two of its 7 schools are shown below, with the reason for each.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| South River Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 524 | C− |
| South River High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 716 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
South River’s rate of thefts and burglaries stands at 3.9 per 1,000 residents. Its rate of reported violence stands at 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
| South River | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.9 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
South River: 13% of residents live below the poverty line. Commuting out is the norm here: 6% of working residents work locally. The median household income for South River comes to $96,000. The top destinations are New York (7%), East Brunswick Township (6%) and New Brunswick (6%).
| South River | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 6.7% | 17% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $96,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
A winter brings about 29 inches of snow, with January nights at 23° and July afternoons at 87°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Within New Jersey it is less healthy than 83% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar. Against the 9,157 U.S. towns with household incomes like South River’s, it is less healthy than 58%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
The share of adults in South River who have obesity: 35%. 16% of adults here have been diagnosed with depression; 35% feel lonely.
| South River | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 36% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 16% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | South River | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 13.4% | 10.9% |
| More adults with obesity | 34.6% | 28.9% |
| More uninsured adults | 13.3% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
There are 0.2 miles of trail across 5 parks and preserves. South River’s concentration of trails is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| South River | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.9% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Daley's Pond Recreation Area | — | 16 |
| 2. Grekoski Park | 0.1 mi | 11 |
| 3. Causeway Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
A typical home in South River is worth about $532,000, up 2.7% in a year, 7% below the New Jersey typical home. Among households here, 66% own their home. The typical rent in the town is $1,675 a month.
| South River | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 66% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,675 a month | $1,780 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
371 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 52 properties have flooded more than once.
Compared with 55% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in South River is lower. Since 1980, 371 flood insurance claims have been paid out here. Expected losses in South River break down as 66% from inland flooding and 9% from earthquakes. Federal disaster aid has reached households in South River after 8 declared disasters, most recently in 2021.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
8 within 15 miles of the center of South River
About 5 of every 100 South River residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
2 places in South River on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in South River.
Borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, US
South River is a borough in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 16,118, an increase of 110 (+0.7%) from the 2010 census count of 16,008, which in turn reflected an increase of 686 (+4.5%) from the 15,322 counted in the 2000 census. What is now South River was originally formed as the town of Washington within East Brunswick Township on February 23, 1870. South River was incorporated as an independent borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 28, 1898, replacing Washington town. It was named after the Raritan River's South River tributary, which marks the borough's eastern and northeastern boun…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with South River.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South River | #330 | C+ | D | A | D | B |
| Sayreville | #273 | B− | D | — | B− | A− |
| East Brunswick Township | #163 | A− | D | B− | A− | A |
Sayreville reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare South River with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
South River grades C+ overall, better than 39% of U.S. towns and #330 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades B for health, A for safety and D 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.
7 notable people were born here, including Janet Evanovich and Stanley Kamel.
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