Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Because it does well by almost any measure. Waldwick earns an A+, 22nd of 466 graded towns in New Jersey. The median household earns $178K, residents are healthier than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and it reports less crime per resident than 95% of U.S. towns. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $748K for a typical one and 7.5 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Waldwick’s median rent is $3,446 a month, above both New Jersey’s towns ($1,778 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Waldwick is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 97% of U.S. towns. Waldwick has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Waldwick Railroad Station and Hopper House.
Where Waldwick beats most towns.
Where Waldwick’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 Waldwick is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for jobs and income (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 11%), so the A+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,207 in 1900, 10,058 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1750 and 5 maps from 1910 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Waldwick. Close and well known come first.
Big draw18 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw19 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw19 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw18 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw28 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 Waldwick, 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 Waldwick.
Waldwick reports less crime than Allendale or any other graded neighbor 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.
Its widest gap with New Jersey is food insecurity: 7.3% of its 7,680 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.3% statewide. Against the 1,427 U.S. towns with household incomes like Waldwick’s, it is healthier than 81%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
9.7% of Waldwick adults report frequent physical distress. Waldwick beats the New Jersey average on 19 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 25% of Waldwick adults have obesity.
| Waldwick | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.7% | 12% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 28% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 7.5% | 9.7% | 12% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 16% | 23% |
| What stands out | Waldwick | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.3% | 14.3% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4.1% | 7% |
| More binge drinkers | 18.2% | 15.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Each of its 6 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its B+, Ho-Ho-Kus highest at A+.
Its public schools are run by the Waldwick School District. Three of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Waldwick High School, with 434 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Julia A Traphagen SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 414 | A− |
| Waldwick High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 434 | B |
| Crescent Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 313 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Its A+ tops all 4 graded towns on its borders; Allendale (A) comes closest. Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
The property crime rate in Waldwick is 2.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Waldwick | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.4 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Most working residents leave Waldwick for work: only 8% work in town. 1.4% of residents live below the poverty line in Waldwick. Jobs based in Waldwick grew to 3,150 in 2023, 510 more than in 2013.
| Waldwick | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $178,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 1.4% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 7.5 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $748K) costs more against local pay than in 76% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 7.6% in the year to September 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Waldwick has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 21° and about 33 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
0.9 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Borough Park, at 20 acres.
| Waldwick | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3.8% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Borough Park | 0.1 mi | 20 |
| 2. Veteran's Park | 0.1 mi | 3 |
| 3. HCA Park | 0.1 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 28 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Waldwick.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
33 within 15 miles of the center of Waldwick
About 3 of every 100 Waldwick residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
4 places in Waldwick on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Waldwick.
Borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, US
Waldwick ( ) is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 10,058, an increase of 433 (+4.5%) from the 2010 census count of 9,625, which in turn reflected an increase of three people (+0.0%) from the 9,622 counted in the 2000 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Waldwick.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waldwick | #22 | A+ | D | A+ | B+ | A+ |
| Saddle River | #145 | A− | D− | A− | A+ | A+ |
| Ridgewood | #42 | A+ | D− | A− | A | A+ |
| Allendale | #3 | A+ | D− | A | A+ | A+ |
| Ho-Ho-Kus | #31 | A+ | D | — | A+ | A+ |
| Wyckoff Township | #74 | A | D− | — | A− | A+ |
| Midland Park | #37 | A+ | D | A | A− | A+ |
Ho-Ho-Kus and Wyckoff Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Waldwick with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Waldwick grades A+ overall, better than 97% of U.S. towns and #22 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health, A+ 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.
3 notable people were born here, including Jack Hewson and Jim Alexander.
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