Ridgewood, NJ real estate and demographic information

About Ridgewood

Ridgewood is a medium-sized village located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 25,120 people and five constituent neighborhoods, Ridgewood is the 73rd largest community in New Jersey.

Ridgewood home prices are not only among the most expensive in New Jersey, but Ridgewood real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Ridgewood is a decidedly white-collar village, with fully 94.73% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Ridgewood is a village of professionals, managers and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Ridgewood who work in management occupations (19.06%), sales jobs (14.92%) and teaching (10.05%).

Also of interest is that Ridgewood has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Of important note, Ridgewood is also a village of artists. Ridgewood has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Ridgewood’s character.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 7.80% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

In addition, Ridgewood is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness'. But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.

Ridgewood is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The village’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Ridgewood’s overall crime rate ranks among the lowest in the country, making it one of the safest places to raise a family.

One downside of living in Ridgewood, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 31.73 minutes every day commuting to work. However, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.

For the size of the village, public transportation in Ridgewood is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the train. For Ridgewood, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.

Ridgewood Information and Demographics

If knowledge is power, Ridgewood is a pretty powerful place. 75.39% of the adults in Ridgewood have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Ridgewood in 2010 was $67,560, which is wealthy relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $270,240 for a family of four.

Ridgewood is a somewhat ethnically-diverse village. The people who call Ridgewood home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Ridgewood residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Ridgewood include Irish, Italian, German, Russian, English and Polish.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Ridgewood's cultural character, accounting for 18.40% of the village’s population.

The most common language spoken in Ridgewood is English. Other important languages spoken here include Korean and Spanish.