Living in Glen Ridge, New Jersey: homes, schools and costs

The book's checklist

Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 12.6% above the U.S. average in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area.
More house for the moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Glen Ridge to say.
A safer neighborhood6 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.7 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 9.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
Schools in town15 public schools: 10 elementary, 2 middle and 3 high schools.
A hospital close byHackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical is in town and has an emergency room.
Within reach of a big cityNew York is about 17 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Glen Ridge meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Glen Ridge runs into the built-up area around New York (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024: $836,600U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then: Up 28%Essex County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities: $2,728 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income: $250,000 or moreU.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them: 91%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill: $10,000 or more a yearNew Jersey: $9,590
Homes built before 1940: 81%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010: 2%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes: 0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices: 112.6U.S. average = 100 (the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 28% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area, not Glen Ridge alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate: 8,2592020: 7,749
Median age: 40.7 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older: 13%U.S.: 17%
Under 18: 30%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more: 81%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year: 2%U.S.: 6%
College students: 8%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work: Finance, insurance and real estate (26%); schools, health care and social services (24%); professional and business services (21%)
Unemployment rate: 8%U.S.: 5%
Average commute: 36 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home: 34%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line: 1%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical, Montclair, NJ, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

15 public schools in Glen Ridge, run by Montclair Public School District and Glen Ridge Public School District.

Colleges in or next to town: Bloomfield College of Montclair State University (under 1,000 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on New Jersey's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet: 92%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription: 98%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low: 21°F
July average high: 86°F
Days 90°F or hotter: 20 a year
Nights at or below freezing: 118 a year
Rain and melted snow: 50.4 inches a year
Snow: 28 inches a year
Elevation: 218 feet

Weather stations: Essex Fells Service Bldg (5 miles away) and Harrison (5 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

East Orange, NJCity of 72,0003

New York, NYMetro of 20.1 million17

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: East Orange, New York.

Essex County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Glen Ridge Historic District, Glen Ridge Historic District (Boundary Increase II) and Glen Ridge Historic District (Boundary Increase).

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

Thomas Edison National Historical Park2 miles
Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park8 miles
Statue of Liberty National Monument11 miles
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site12 miles
Castle Clinton National Monument12 miles

Campus life. Check Bloomfield College of Montclair State University's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Glen Ridge's history on Wikipedia.

Know Glen Ridge?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Watsessing, NJ8,200 people, 1 miles
Silver Lake, NJ3,900 people, 2 miles
Ampere North, NJ5,000 people, 2 miles
Brookdale, NJ10,000 people, 2 miles
Upper Montclair, NJ12,500 people, 3 miles
Essex Fells, NJ2,200 people, 4 miles

Smaller places

Llewellyn Park, NJ (unincorporated)560 people, 2 miles
Pleasantdale, NJ (unincorporated)2,145 people, 4 miles
Connecticut Farms, NJ (unincorporated)516 people, 8 miles
Springfield, NJ (unincorporated)1,304 people, 9 miles
Kean University, NJ (unincorporated)1,362 people, 9 miles
William Paterson University of New Jersey, NJ (unincorporated)1,133 people, 10 miles
Cranford, NJ (unincorporated)1,937 people, 12 miles
Green Village, NJ (unincorporated)1,130 people, 14 miles

Sources

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.