Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Plenty to like here, at a price. Its strongest subject is health (A+). The catch is cost of living — the typical home is worth about $1.3 million, 12.8 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. All told, that adds up to an A+ overall and a rank of 24th of 466 in New Jersey. That leaves it better than 97% of U.S. towns. 81% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Woodcliff Lake, above both the New Jersey town median (45%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). The town is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 90% of U.S. towns. The median household earns $214K.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24.
Where Woodcliff Lake beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Woodcliff Lake | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 2.7% | 9.6% |
Where Woodcliff Lake’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 Woodcliff Lake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 329 in 1900, 6,128 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1857 and 5 maps from 1910 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Woodcliff Lake. Close and well known come first.
Big draw18 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw19 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw19 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw18 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw26 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 Woodcliff Lake, 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 Woodcliff Lake.
Woodcliff Lake carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding), draws workers from New York City and beyond and has less tooth loss than most of New Jersey.
At 12.8 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $1.27M) costs more against local pay than in 96% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
Woodcliff Lake’s median rent is $1,888 a month. In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 8.7%. For households locally, the share who live in a home they own is 86%.
| Woodcliff Lake | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,888 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 86% | 77% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.27M.
Its two schools are below. Public schools: the Woodcliff Lake School District. The 2 public schools in Woodcliff Lake teach 732 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dorchester Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 494 | A |
| Woodcliff Middle SchoolTop results in townGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 238 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with New Jersey is tooth loss: 2.7% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9.6% statewide.
Woodcliff Lake: 81% of adults had a checkup this year. Among 468 New Jersey towns, just 9 have a lower share of adults who worry about having enough food than Woodcliff Lake. Just over one in ten adults in Woodcliff Lake report frequent mental distress; 8.8% report frequent physical distress. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Woodcliff Lake is ahead of New Jersey on 21 and behind on 1.
| Woodcliff Lake | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 5.8% | 11% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 8.8% | 12% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 28% | 35% |
| What stands out | Woodcliff Lake | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 2.7% | 9.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5% | 14.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
5,785 jobs are based in Woodcliff Lake, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 28% of workers work from home, against 16.8% across New Jersey.
Jobs in Woodcliff Lake grew by 1,001 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 5,785. Its average trip to work stands at 33 minutes. The top destinations are New York (23%), Paramus (4%) and Montvale (3%). Half the trips to work are shorter than 15 miles.
| Woodcliff Lake | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $214,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 1% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.9% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
In Woodcliff Lake, the property crime rate is 4.8 per 1,000 residents. Its violent crime rate comes in at 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Woodcliff Lake | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.8 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
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 96% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $282 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA hazard score for Woodcliff Lake comes to 12 of 100. Since 1979, 21 flood insurance claims have been paid out here. 69% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by earthquakes at 9%. Federal aid has come to Woodcliff Lake households in 11 declared disasters; the latest was in 2021.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A winter brings about 33 inches of snow, with January nights at 22° and July afternoons at 86°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The density of trails in Woodcliff Lake is 0.3 miles per square mile. Trails run 1.0 miles in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Wood Dale County Park, at 55 acres.
| Woodcliff Lake | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 4.1% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wooddale County Park | 0.4 mi | 15 |
| 2. Wood Dale County Park | — | 55 |
| 3. Woodcliff Lake Historic Park | 0.2 mi | 19 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
44 within 15 miles of the center of Woodcliff Lake
About 4 of every 100 Woodcliff Lake residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
7 places in Woodcliff Lake on the National Register of Historic Places.
Borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, US
Woodcliff Lake 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 6,128, an increase of 398 (+6.9%) from the 2010 census count of 5,730, which in turn reflected a decline of 15 (−0.3%) from the 5,745 counted in the 2000 census. Most of the borough mandates a minimum lot size of 22,500 square feet (2,090 m2) for single-family homes, with portions on the borough's east zoned for 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2) and portions of the borough's northwest and southwest zoned for 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) lots. Woodcliff Lake is also the name of the reservoir that lies predominantly within the borough, with a small port…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Woodcliff Lake.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodcliff Lake | #24 | A+ | D | A | A | A+ |
| Park Ridge | #18 | A+ | D− | A+ | A− | A+ |
| Saddle River | #145 | A− | D− | A− | A+ | A+ |
| Hillsdale | #8 | A+ | D | A+ | A− | A+ |
| Upper Saddle River | #79 | A | D− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Montvale | #78 | A | D | B+ | A− | A+ |
Upper Saddle River reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Woodcliff Lake with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Woodcliff Lake grades A+ overall, better than 97% of U.S. towns and #24 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.
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