Ridgewood is a medium-sized village located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 26,168 people and five associated neighborhoods, Ridgewood is the 69th 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 95.33% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Ridgewood is a village of managers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Ridgewood who work in management occupations (25.73%), business and financial occupations (10.15%), and teaching (9.84%). 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: 25.78% 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. Because of many things, Ridgewood is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Ridgewood really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Ridgewood perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live. One downside of living in Ridgewood is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Ridgewood, the average commute to work is 32.89 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the village, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative. Like elsewhere in America, most people in Ridgewood use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Ridgewood‘s citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the train. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Ridgewood. 78.64% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%. The per capita income in Ridgewood in 2022 was $93,733, which is wealthy relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $374,932 for a family of four. Ridgewood is a very 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, English, and Polish. Ridgewood also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 19.61%. The most common language spoken in Ridgewood is English. Other important languages spoken here include Korean and Spanish.
