Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Few places in the country grade higher. Summit earns an A, ranked 51st of 466 in New Jersey. On CDC health estimates it is near the top nationally, its public schools beat 90% of New Jersey towns on state tests and graduation, and the median household earns $190K. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $1.4 million for a typical one and 14.2 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 98% of U.S. towns, with 5 places on the National Register. 73% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Summit, where New Jersey’s towns sit at 45% and U.S. towns at 29%. Only 12 of New Jersey’s 527 towns score higher on civic life. Its National Register listings include The Clearing and Twin Maples.
Where Summit beats most towns.
The Clearing| Widest gap | Summit | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.2% | 14.3% |
Census counts: 1,176 in 1870, 22,719 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1900 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Summit is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Summit. Close and well known come first.
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw21 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw20 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw22 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw18 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 Summit, 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 Summit.
Summit draws workers from New York City and beyond 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.
At 14.2 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $1.41M) costs more against local pay than in 98% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 13%. The midpoint rent in Summit is $2,430 a month. Summit: just over two thirds of households own their home.
| Summit | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,430 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 68% | 77% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
That grade comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.41M.
Three of its 16 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. The Summit Public School District runs its public schools. The 6 public schools in Summit teach 1,802 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 871 | A+ |
| Summit High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,198 | A+ |
| Lincoln-Hubbard Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades 1–5 | Grades 1–5 | 351 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with New Jersey is food insecurity: 8.2% of its 16,582 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.3% statewide. Against the 1,119 U.S. towns with household incomes like Summit’s, it is healthier than 83%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
Among adults in Summit, 9.7% report frequent physical distress. 15% of adults locally have been diagnosed with depression; 13% report frequent mental distress.
| Summit | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 28% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.7% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Summit | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.2% | 14.3% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4.5% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
19,702 jobs are based in Summit, 2.2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 20% of working residents cross a state line to work.
For Summit, the mean commuting time is 34 minutes. Most people who work leave Summit to do it: just 12% work in town. Jobs based in Summit grew to 19,702 in 2023, 4,273 more than in 2013. In Summit, nearly a quarter of workers work remotely from home.
| Summit | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $190,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 24% | 16% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Watchung Reservation, at 219 acres with 3.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. 7.3 miles of trail wind through 7 parks and preserves. The trail density for Summit comes to 1.2 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Watchung Reservation | 3.1 mi | 219 |
| 2. Tatlock Sports Complex | 0.4 mi | 18 |
| 3. Hidden Valley Park | 0.1 mi | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 9.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 64% of New Jersey’s graded towns.
Summit’s rate of thefts and burglaries is 4.4 per 1,000 residents. In Summit, the rate of reported violence is 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Summit | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.4 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
Summer afternoons peak near 86° in July, and January nights bottom out around 22°; snowfall runs to about 24 inches a winter. Summit brings chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Storm and flood damage is expected to run lower than in 55% of U.S. communities. 61 flood insurance claims have been paid in Summit since 1978. FEMA puts just over three quarters of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 6% to earthquakes. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Summit after 9 declared disasters, most recently in 2021.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
27 within 15 miles of the center of Summit
About 5 of every 100 Summit residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
Where Summit’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 places in Summit on the National Register of Historic Places.
61 notable people were born in Summit.
City in Union County, New Jersey, US
Summit is the northernmost city of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located within the New York metropolitan area. Situated on a ridge in northern–central New Jersey, the city is located within the Raritan Valley and Rahway Valley regions, and also borders both Essex and Morris counties in the Passaic Valley region. Summit is a commercial hub and commuter town for New York City. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 22,719, an increase of 1,262 (+5.9%) from the 2010 census count of 21,457, which in turn reflected an increase of 326 (+1.5%) from the 21,131 counted in the 2000 census. Originally incorporated as Summit Township by an act of the New Jersey…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Summit.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summit | #51 | A | D | A− | A | A+ |
| Chatham · Chatham Township | #27 | A+ | D | A | A | A+ |
| Mountainside | #5 | A+ | D− | A | A+ | A+ |
| Millburn Township | #113 | A | D | B− | A | A+ |
| Short Hills | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| New Providence | #50 | A | D | — | A | A+ |
| Springfield Township | #177 | A− | D | B+ | B | A+ |
| Berkeley Heights Township | #38 | A+ | D | A | A− | A+ |
New Providence reports no FBI crime data of its own. Short Hills isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Chatham Township and Chatham are one community, graded once. Compare Summit with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Summit grades A overall, better than 94% of U.S. towns and #51 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. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
61 notable people were born here, including James Sie and Gerard Way.
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