Best PlacesRidgewood, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ridgewood, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ridgewood ranks 104th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ridgewood
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Ridgewood
The parts of Ridgewood, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Southeast Ridgewood
Northwest Ridgewood
Downtown Ridgewood
Scores across Ridgewood run from about the 60th to the 99th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Ridgewood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ridgewood ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of cities
- Household income$205,557 median, better than 99% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of cities
Where Ridgewood ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of cities
- Short commute34.4 minutes each way, better than only 7% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,508 a month, better than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Ridgewood
A household needs to earn about $284,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ridgewood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $205,557, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Ridgewood's effective rate of 2.00%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ridgewood
Ridgewood's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ridgewood.
Who works in Ridgewood, and how
Work in Ridgewood centers on professional & technical and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 51%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Ridgewood
Ridgewood has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 30 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ridgewood and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ridgewood, month by month
Ridgewood sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Ridgewood
Laguardia sits about 19 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 16.3 million passengers in 2025, with 118 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Ridgewood
Schools across Ridgewood average a B+, better than 75% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Orchard Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Travell Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Ridge Elementary SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Benjamin Franklin Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- George Washington Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Westwood Regional Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Ridgewood High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Westwood Regional High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Paramus High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ridgewood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ridgewood measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Ridgewood against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Ridgewood suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 32% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Ridgewood
Is Ridgewood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ridgewood ranks 104th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on an educated workforce, high incomes, and fast internet, and lowest on state finances and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ridgewood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $933,020. The overall cost of living runs about 38% above the national average. Set against a $205,557 median income, cost of living beats 95% of cities.
Is Ridgewood safe?
Yes, Ridgewood is safer than 59% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $205 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ridgewood?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 26. That works out to about 57 pleasant days a year, more than 3% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Ridgewood?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Southeast Ridgewood, Northwest Ridgewood, and Downtown Ridgewood. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Ridgewood with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ridgewood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ridgewood represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Ridgewood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ridgewood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ridgewood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ridgewood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ridgewood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ridgewood detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.