Glen Ridge is a somewhat small borough located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 7,952 people and just one neighborhood, Glen Ridge is the 246th largest community in New Jersey. Glen Ridge has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic boroughs.
Glen Ridge home prices are not only among the most expensive in New Jersey, but Glen Ridge real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.
Glen Ridge is a decidedly white-collar borough, with fully 97.74% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Glen Ridge is a borough of managers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Glen Ridge who work in management occupations (26.90%), sales jobs (13.27%), and business and financial occupations (10.03%).
Of important note, Glen Ridge is also a borough of artists. Glen Ridge has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Glen Ridge’s character.
Also of interest is that Glen Ridge has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
A relatively large number of people in Glen Ridge telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 25.40% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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, Glen Ridge is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates", which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre.
Glen Ridge 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 borough’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, Glen Ridge’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.
One downside of living in Glen Ridge is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Glen Ridge, the average commute to work is 34.62 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the borough, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative. In addition, it is also a pedestrian-friendly borough. Many of Glen Ridge’s neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot.
Even though Glen Ridge is a smaller borough, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly the train for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding cities.
If knowledge is power, Glen Ridge is a pretty powerful place. 82.02% of the adults in Glen Ridge 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 Glen Ridge in 2022 was $101,252, which is wealthy relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $405,008 for a family of four.
Glen Ridge is a very ethnically-diverse borough. The people who call Glen Ridge home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Glen Ridge residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Glen Ridge also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 12.88% of the borough’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Glen Ridge include Irish, Italian, English, German, and Scottish.
The most common language spoken in Glen Ridge is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Real estate in the neighborhood is almost exclusively owner-occupied. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher rate of owner-occupied housing than is found in 96.1% of U.S. neighborhoods. If you are seeking to rent, this neighborhood may not have many options, but high rates of ownership often indicate stability in a neighborhood. With a real estate vacancy rate of only 0.0%, the neighborhood has a lower vacancy rate than 100.0% of U.S. neighborhoods, a very elite group. Such a low vacancy rate may indicate very strong real estate demand in the neighborhood combined with some impediments to increasing supply, such as zoning or existing density of development, among other potential reasons.
In addition, one way that the neighborhood really stands out, is that it has more large 4, 5, or additional bedroom homes and real estate than 95.3% of the neighborhoods in America. When you walk or drive around this neighborhood, you'll instantly notice the size of the homes here which definitely makes a strong visual statement.
Furthermore, do you watch 'This Old House' on Public Television? Do you love the idea of fixing up a Colonial or Victorian era home, complete with the charm of yesteryear? Do you like to stroll or drive streets lined with gracious older residences? If you found yourself nodding yes to any of these questions, you are going to be interested in this unique neighborhood. The neighborhood stands out on a national scale for the sheer concentration of historic residences it contains: 78.0% of the residential real estate here was built from 1939 or earlier, some much earlier. This is a greater concentration of historic homes than 99.5% of the neighborhoods in the United States.
Wealth makes most things in life easier, and a few things harder. If you are wealthy and enjoy keeping up with the Jones', this neighborhood will interest you. In fact, according to NeighborhoodScout's research, the neighborhood is wealthier than 99.5% of the neighborhoods in the United States. Residents here are truly in a unique situation even when compared to other Americans, based on the sheer amount of wealth concentrated here. Even in times of economic downturn, residents of this neighborhood, as a group, suffered less and recovered more quickly. This is indeed a stand-out characteristic of this neighborhood. As one would expect in a considerably wealthy neighborhood such as this, also has one of the lowest ratings of child poverty in the nation.
In addition, think about the people you know personally. How many of them would purchase box seats to opening night at the symphony? How many of them regularly attend gallery openings, or are the first to reserve tickets to opening night at the ballet? If they're like most of us, they don't do any of these things. But if you're among an exclusive crowd of wealthy and refined patrons of the arts, then you'll feel right at home in the neighborhood: a neighborhood in which more "urban sophisticates" live than 99.9% of neighborhoods across the U.S. Here, your neighbors are defined as having urbane tastes in literature, music, live theatre and the arts. They are wealthy, educated, travel in style, and live a big city lifestyle whether or not they live in or near a big city. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for highly educated executives and families with school-aged children.
Also, do you like to read, write, and learn? Are you curious about the world? If so, this neighborhood may be a good fit for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that a full 82.0% of the adults living in the neighborhood have earned at least a bachelor's degree. This is a higher rate than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.4% of U.S. neighborhoods. In this way, this neighborhood truly stands out.
Finally, priests and therapists would like to think they know the secrets to a truly successful marriage, but according to NeighborhoodScout's research, the folks of the neighborhood may actually hold the key. 69.8% of its residents are married, which is a higher percentage than is found in 96.1% of the neighborhoods in America.
If you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 28.5% of the neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 98.0% of America's neighborhoods.
Executives, managers and professionals make up 71.6% of the workforce in the neighborhood which, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is a higher proportion of such high-level people than is found in 96.3% of the neighborhoods in America. For this reason, this neighborhood really stands out as unique.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Greek and Scottish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 6.0% of this neighborhood's residents have Greek ancestry and 7.5% have Scottish ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.5% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Greek at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.4% of the neighborhoods in America.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Glen Ridge are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 99.5% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 71.6% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 16.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (9.4%), and 2.3% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 83.2% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Glen Ridge, NJ, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (21.8%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (19.0%), and residents who report English roots (11.0%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (10.1%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (7.5%), among others. In addition, 10.3% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (30.4% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (40.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (28.5%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.