Best PlacesWaldwick, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waldwick, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Waldwick ranks 1,249th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Waldwick
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.
Waldwick's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waldwick ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$175,196 median, better than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
Where Waldwick ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,508 a month, better than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Waldwick
A household needs to earn about $185,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waldwick home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $175,196; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Waldwick's effective rate of 2.21%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Waldwick
Waldwick'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 Waldwick.
Who works in Waldwick, and how
Work in Waldwick centers on education and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Waldwick
Waldwick has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of towns. The coast is about 33 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Waldwick and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Waldwick, month by month
Waldwick 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 Waldwick
Laguardia sits about 21 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 Waldwick
Schools across Waldwick average a C+, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Willard Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Crescent Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Julia A Traphagen SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- George Washington Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Waldwick Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Ridgewood High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Midland Park Jr./sr. High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Waldwick High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waldwick school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waldwick 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 Waldwick against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Waldwick
Is Waldwick a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waldwick ranks 1,249th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, fast internet, and high incomes, and lowest on state finances and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waldwick expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $592,828. The overall cost of living runs about 24% above the national average. Set against a $175,196 median income, cost of living beats 96% of towns.
Is Waldwick safe?
Yes, Waldwick is safer than 75% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $159 per resident a year.
Compare Waldwick with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waldwick. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waldwick 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.
Waldwick detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waldwick: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waldwick: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waldwick: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waldwick: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waldwick 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.