Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The city was incorporated in 1898 and has 53,192 residents today.
Trash day: look up yoursCost of living is its weak spot (D): the typical home is worth about $448K, 4.5 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Schools are weaker too — its schools rank behind 84% of the state's. Its strongest is walkability (A+). The overall grade lands at D, 432nd of 466 in New Jersey. That leaves it better than 8% of U.S. towns. West New York's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 100% of U.S. towns. On incomes, just 42 of New Jersey’s 530 towns do worse. On health, just 45 of New Jersey’s 530 towns do worse.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · schools, state test and graduation results · health, CDC PLACES.
Where West New York beats most towns.
Where West New York’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 West New York is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 7%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 5,267 in 1900, 52,912 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1897 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around West New York. Close and well known come first.
Big draw2 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw3 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw2 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw3 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw4 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw5 mi MuseumNational September 11 Memorial & MuseumCentral 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 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · National September 11 Memorial & Museum: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in West New York, 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 West New York.
West New York sends many workers across the state line, but it reports more crime than Weehawken Township and its other graded neighbors and has poverty well above the New Jersey rate.
In 6 parks and preserves, walkers have 1.4 miles of trail. West New York’s trail density stands at 1.1 miles per square mile, above both the New Jersey town median (0.7) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Parks and preserves in the town: 6, covering 23 acres.
| West New York | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.1 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.3% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Miller Park | 0.4 mi | 7 |
| 2. Donnelly Memorial Park | 0.4 mi | 6 |
| 3. Columbus Park | 0.2 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Two of its 9 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. The public schools here belong to the West New York School District. Public school enrollment in the town: 3,572 students across 6 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| West New York Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 1,087 | C |
| Memorial High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,345 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
27% of working residents cross a state line to work. Jobs based here grew from 6,972 in 2013 to 9,706.
West New York had 9,706 jobs in 2023, up 2,734 from 2013. Commuting out is the norm here: 8% of working residents work locally. Also worth knowing: nearly a fifth of residents live below the poverty line in the town, against 6% in New Jersey’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. The median household income locally is $72,000.
| West New York | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 35 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $72,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 14% | 17% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
A home in West New York typically sold within 62 days of listing. Homes locally are typically worth about $448,000, up 3.3% in a year, 22% below the New Jersey typical home. The town’s midpoint rent stands at $1,716 a month.
| West New York | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 23% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,716 a month | $1,780 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 55% | 52% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
A winter brings about 30 inches of snow, with January nights at 25° and July afternoons at 86°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Among adults in West New York, 37% get no exercise outside work. Against the New Jersey average, West New York comes out ahead on 2 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 17. In West New York, 30% of adults worry about having enough food, and 27% say their health is fair or poor.
| West New York | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 22% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 11% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 15% | 19% |
| What stands out | West New York | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4.5% | 7.5% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 17.6% | 22.2% |
| More uninsured adults | 27.1% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Of the losses FEMA expects in West New York, 67% come from inland flooding and 13% from heat waves. Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 64% of U.S. communities. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 6 declared disasters, most recently in 2021.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Each of the 3 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Weehawken Township (B−) to North Bergen Township (B). At 23.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 78% of New Jersey’s graded towns.
In West New York, the level of property crime is 12.5 per 1,000 residents. West New York’s violent crime rate comes in at 2.4 per 1,000 residents.
| West New York | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.4 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 12.5 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
142 within 15 miles of the center of West New York
About 5 of every 100 West New York residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
10 notable people were born in West New York.
Town in Hudson County, New Jersey, US
West New York is a town in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated upon the New Jersey Palisades. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 52,912, an increase of 3,204 (+6.4%) from the 2010 census count of 49,708, which in turn reflected an increase of 3,940 (+8.6%) from the 45,768 counted in the 2000 census. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 51,981 in 2022. With more than 52,800 inhabitants per square mile (20,400/km2) of land according to the 2010 census, West New York was the second-most densely populated municipality in the United States, among places with a population ab…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with West New York.
All 4 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Union City (C−) is closest.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West New York | #432 | D | D | C+ | C− | C+ |
| Guttenberg | #385 | C− | D | B− | C− | B |
| North Bergen Township | #375 | C− | D− | B | D | B− |
| Union City | #399 | C− | D | — | B− | C |
| Weehawken Township | #244 | B | D− | B− | B− | A+ |
Union City reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare West New York with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
West New York grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns and #432 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades C+ for health, C+ for safety and C− 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.
West New York was incorporated in 1898 and has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places. 10 notable people were born here, including Walter Hendl and Ed Badger.
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