Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,418, settled in 1872.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Wanaque grades A− overall, 133rd of 466 graded towns in New Jersey. It has 28 miles of trail and 35% conserved land. It reports less crime per resident than 96% of U.S. towns and the median household earns $113K. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $507K, 5.1 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 35% of the land in Wanaque is conserved, above both the New Jersey town median (11%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Wanaque is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns. Ramapo Mountain State Forest, at 1,017 acres with 12.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Wanaque beats most towns.
35.4% of the town is conserved land, across 4 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Wanaque is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for safety (better than 96% 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: 2,916 in 1920, 11,317 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 1917 and 6 maps from 1891 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Wanaque. Close and well known come first.
Big draw25 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw19 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw30 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
Big draw25 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw25 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a yearCentral 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 · United States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, 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 Wanaque, 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 Wanaque.
Wanaque pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the New Jersey norm and keeps more of its land conserved than most of New Jersey, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding).
Its 2,099 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 91% of New Jersey towns.
28 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. At 3.0 miles per square mile, Wanaque’s trail density is above both New Jersey’s towns (0.7) and U.S. towns (0.4).
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ramapo Mountain State Forest | 12.1 mi | 1,017 |
| 2. Elks Camp Moore | 0.4 mi | 8 |
| 3. Addice Park | 0.2 mi | 17 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Wanaque School District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Lakeland Regional High School, with 823 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wanaque Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 506 | B |
| Lakeland Regional High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 823 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Violent crime is rare: 8 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
The property crime rate in Wanaque is 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Wanaque | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Within New Jersey it is less healthy than 56% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar.
Wanaque beats the New Jersey average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 27% of adults have obesity in Wanaque.
| Wanaque | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 28% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 16% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Wanaque | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.5% | 7% |
| Fewer adults without reliable transportation | 6% | 7.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.7% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 91% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $424 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Wanaque’s FEMA risk score is 83 of 100. Since 1979, 41 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Wanaque.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Wanaque for work: only 5% work in town. 8.2% of Wanaque workers work from home. The top destinations are New York (7%), Wayne Township (5%) and Paterson (3%).
| Wanaque | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 8.2% | 17% | 11% |
| Median household income | $113,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.9% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Wanaque has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 20° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Children under 18 are 16% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 23% of residents (17% statewide). 42% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 44% across New Jersey.
| Wanaque | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 16% | 21% | 22% |
| Median age | 47.2 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 42% | 45% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.6 points. Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women.
| Wanaque | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.3% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.2% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.2% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.3% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.3% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.4% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.8% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.7% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.7% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.5% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.8% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 14.3% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.5% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 28.2% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.8% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Wanaque grades A− overall with a typical home of about $507K, below the New Jersey typical value; only 24 of the 132 New Jersey towns graded A− or better can say that.
The typical Wanaque home is worth about $507,000, up 1% in a year, 12% below the New Jersey typical home.
| Wanaque | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,778 a month | $1,780 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 78% | 77% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
23 within 15 miles of the center of Wanaque
About 4 of every 100 Wanaque residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
Where Wanaque’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, US
Wanaque () is a borough in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 11,317, an increase of 201 (+1.8%) from the 2010 census count of 11,116, which in turn reflected an increase of 850 (+8.3%) from the 10,266 counted in the 2000 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Wanaque.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wanaque | #133 | A− | D | A+ | B+ | A− |
| Ringwood | #127 | A | C− | A+ | B− | A |
| Bloomingdale | #230 | B | D | A | C+ | A− |
| Pompton Lakes | #129 | A | C− | A | B+ | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Wanaque grades A− overall, better than 85% of U.S. towns and #133 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.
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