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Place dossier plate
SheetNJ-MOUNTAINSIDE-NJ · Mountainside, NJ 6,967 pop · income 98th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Mountainside
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Mountainside on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Perry · lowest
44,815
Perry · lowest
44,815 median HH income
21.3% of the leader · rank #1
Marshfield Hi… · near
210,096
Marshfield Hi… · near
210,096 median HH income
99.7% of the leader · rank #2
Mountainside · this city
210,100
Mountainside · this city
210,100 median HH income
99.7% of the leader · rank #3
Franklin Farm · near
210,169
Franklin Farm · near
210,169 median HH income
99.7% of the leader · rank #4
Fort Hunt · near
210,471
Fort Hunt · near
210,471 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #5
Bard College · near
210,483
Bard College · near
210,483 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #6
Sully Square · highest
210,746
Sully Square · highest
210,746 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Mountainside on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 6,967.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Mountainside - the verdict
Mountainside ranks in the 98th percentile for household income and the 91st percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
98th
percentile, household income
94th
percentile, home value
94th
percentile, median rent
91st
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Mountainside, NJ
Mountainside is a small town in New Jersey, home to 6,967 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Mountainside households earn a median of $210,100 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 3.0%. Mountainside's housing stock carries a median value of $755,600, and the median resident age is 48.7 years. About 66.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 58.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 8 residential building permits were authorized in Mountainside (Building Boom), up 300% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Mountainside reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 354.5 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
New Jersey carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts New Jersey at 108.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Above Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,132 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts New Jersey's average monthly utility costs around $275 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 90.8 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Mountainside's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change to schools and households to reported crime to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Mountainside, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Mountainside?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within New Jersey, the closest population matches are Stratford (6,965 residents, $100,735 income); Linwood (6,954 residents, $135,904 income); Milltown (6,994 residents, $119,958 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Seneca Falls, NY (6,967 residents); Perry, FL (6,965 residents); Kasson, MN (6,964 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
What does the journey to work look like in Mountainside?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 52.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Is Mountainside growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +339 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.8% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 8 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
What does the education layer cover for Mountainside?
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 66.2% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Mountainside?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 354.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 84% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
354.5
Violent rate
14.2
Property rate
340.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Mountainside?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.6×
Home value
$755,600
Household income
$210,100
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Household income A+
$210,100
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share A+
66.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime A+
14 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate B+
3.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living F
108.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Mountainside profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 100/100 (A+) · $210,100
Bachelor's+ share: 95/100 (A+) · 66.2%
Violent crime: 93/100 (A+) · 14 /100k
Poverty rate: 79/100 (B+) · 3.0%
Cost of living: 10/100 (F) · 108.8 index
Where Mountainside sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Mountainside's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Mountainside highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Mountainside, NJ (this city): home $755,600, crime 355/100k
Kasson, MN : home $264,500, crime 513/100k
Stratford, NJ : home $238,200, crime 1,243/100k
Linwood, NJ : home $351,100, crime 733/100k
Milltown, NJ : home $423,000, crime 1,352/100k
Midland Park, NJ : home $586,200, crime 703/100k
Barrington, NJ : home $244,400, crime 1,190/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Mountainside compare to other US cities?
Where Mountainside sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income98% higher than other cities
Home value94% pricier than other cities
Median rent94% pricier than other cities
Safety91% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just New Jersey and the picture shifts: Mountainside ranks #30 of 238 New Jersey cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Mountainside against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to New Jersey only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
New Jersey-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Mountainside near the bottom of New Jersey's cities
Among the 686 New Jersey cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Mountainside ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Mountainside only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#41 of 659
94th percentile in New Jersey
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 686
0th percentile in New Jersey
Median Home Value
#80 of 672
88th percentile in New Jersey
Poverty Rate
#347 of 680
48th percentile in New Jersey
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#109 of 686
84th percentile in New Jersey
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within New Jersey only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
98th percentile nationally for median household income · 91st percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Mountainside's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Mountainside's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Mountainside's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$755,6006th percentilemore affordable than 6% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Mountainside's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,348 of 15,516
More affordable than 40% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,500 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.6×, Mountainside sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,348 of 15,516 and #7,500 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$210,100Mountainside, NJ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Mountainside, NJ median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Mountainside, NJ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)66.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)58.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,967
Median Income
$210,100
Median Home Value
$755,600
Median Age
48.7
Poverty Rate
3.0%
Labor force participation
58.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
66.2%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
354.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
14.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
340.3
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Mountainside's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
7,007 residents
2021
7,026 residents
2022
7,012 residents
2023
7,099 residents
2024
7,297 residents
2025
7,346 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
8
housing units authorized
Single-Family
8
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
2
2
0
$0.6M
2020
4
4
0
$1.1M
2021
2
2
0
$0.5M
2022
3
3
0
$0.7M
2023
2
2
0
$0.9M
2024
8
8
0
$2.3M
Permit volume increased 300% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
52.7%
Carpool
9.1%
Public Transit
11.9%
Walk
1.7%
Work from Home
24.6%
Based on 3,238 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
New Jersey statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $275
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across New Jersey at $275 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $60 ).
These are New Jersey statewide averages, not a meter reading for Mountainside. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
New Jersey's BEA cost-of-living index is 108.8 (Well Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Mountainside is $2,132/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to New Jersey statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 90.8 / 100 (Very High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a New Jersey statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Mountainside sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Mountainside compares to similar-size New Jersey cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.