It’s true what you read about New Jersey in the news: there are cities in this state that make Long Island, NY look like the home of the middle class.
We know that New Jerseyites can make an amazing bagel, they are one of the top producers of cranberries, and most of the drugmakers call it home, but what is it that keeps this larger than life state ticking? That folks, would be the millionaires that call it home. Curious to know where the ‘Richie Rich’ of New Jersey live? We’ve done the work for you with the top ten richest cities in New Jersey for 2021 list.
To create this list, we asked ourselves, what is important to rich people in New Jersey? Besides the obvious: high paying jobs, affluent neighborhoods, and crazy expensive beach houses at the Jersey Shore; the cities on our list had to cater to the ‘one percent’ on a different level, they had to be super posh posh.
How does one get their hand on one of these New Jersey cities; where living your best life requires a substantial amount of money? Well, a couple of things have to fall into place for you. You can marry a New Jersey Housewife or you can find a job that pays on average $160,000/year. Might we suggest a job in banking? Someone has to help all of those rich New Jerseyites manage their money. Wealthy people want to live in the best cities, so it’s not lost on us that there are multiple cities on our best places to live in New Jersey for 2021 that are also on our richest list.
To see which cities make the dolla’ holla’ on our wealthiest cities in The Garden State for 2021, grab an O’Bagel, a glass of cranberry juice, and read on.
Here are the 10 richest places in New Jersey for 2021:
In all seriousness, we narrowed down the richest cities in New Jersey by looking at several factors: poverty rate, median household income, unemployment rate; and obviously, where Jersey’s filthy rich like to hang. The cities also had to have a population of at least 5,000.
And the winner is — North Caldwell. You better have deep pockets if you want to live in North Caldwell, folks.
So where exactly is the money located in the great state of New Jersey? Continue reading as we unravel the richest cities in New Jersey for 2021. And if you don’t see your city there, head to the bottom.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about New Jersey:
The 10 Richest Cities In New Jersey For 2021
1. North Caldwell
/10
Population: 6,615
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $187,734
Unemployment Rate: 1.7%
Poverty Rate: 0.9%
More on North Caldwell: Real Estate | Photos
2. Haddonfield
/10
Population: 11,345
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $150,958
Unemployment Rate: 2.3%
Poverty Rate: 1.5%
More on Haddonfield: Real Estate | Photos
3. Rumson
/10
Population: 6,792
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 1)
Median Income: $188,906
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%
Poverty Rate: 1.7%
More on Rumson: Real Estate | Photos
4. Allendale
/10
Population: 6,765
Rank Last Year: 39 (Up 35)
Median Income: $170,968
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 1.6%
More on Allendale: Real Estate | Photos
5. Ramsey
/10
Population: 14,940
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 2)
Median Income: $147,875
Unemployment Rate: 3.0%
Poverty Rate: 2.0%
More on Ramsey: Real Estate | Photos
6. Westfield
/10
Population: 29,877
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 1)
Median Income: $170,798
Unemployment Rate: 2.7%
Poverty Rate: 3.1%
More on Westfield: Real Estate | Photos
7. Woodcliff Lake
/10
Population: 5,832
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 4)
Median Income: $171,103
Unemployment Rate: 2.0%
Poverty Rate: 3.7%
More on Woodcliff Lake: Real Estate | Photos
8. Park Ridge
/10
Population: 8,766
Rank Last Year: 22 (Up 14)
Median Income: $137,903
Unemployment Rate: 2.9%
Poverty Rate: 2.3%
More on Park Ridge: Real Estate | Photos
9. Cresskill
/10
Population: 8,699
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 1)
Median Income: $151,442
Unemployment Rate: 2.9%
Poverty Rate: 3.1%
More on Cresskill: Real Estate | Photos
10. Ridgewood
/10
Population: 25,179
Rank Last Year: 20 (Up 10)
Median Income: $184,355
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%
Poverty Rate: 3.5%
More on Ridgewood: Real Estate | Photos
How We Determined The Richest Places In New Jersey For 2021
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.
However, we don’t believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “richest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2015-2019 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
- Unemployment Rate
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.
After we collected the data for all 188 places with more than 5,000 people in New Jersey, we ranked each place from 1 to 188 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Rich Score” with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, North Caldwell, crowned the “Richest City In New Jersey For 2021”. You can download the data here.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 188 places.
There You Have It – The Wealthiest Places In New Jersey For 2021
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in New Jersey, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in New Jersey.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the poorest cities in New Jersey, according to data:
Poorest: Camden
2nd Poorest: Atlantic City
3rd Poorest: Trenton
For more New Jersey reading, check out:
- Worst Places To Live In New Jersey
- Best Places To Raise A Family In New Jersey
- Safest Places In New Jersey
