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Compare the eight Pascack Valley towns

Prices, schools, the train, taxes, who runs the town, and how it votes. Everything in one table, so you are not opening eight tabs.

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Town Westwood The Pascack Valley's closest thing to a real Main Street Hillsdale Quiet, family-focused, and genuinely residential Park Ridge Small borough, tight community, real train access Montvale High-end homes, corporate neighbors, and its own station River Vale Green, quiet, and genuinely spacious Emerson Genuine small-town feel with real train access Woodcliff Lake The top-school choice, with a train to back it up Washington Township The most overlooked value in the Pascack Valley
The basics
Type Borough Borough Borough Borough Township Borough Borough Township
Population 11,365 (2025 est.) 10,214 (2025 est.) 9,571 (2025 est.) 10,113 (2025 est.) 10,555 (2025 est.) 7,371 (2025 est.) 6,234 (2024 est.) 9,437 (2024 est.)
Area 2.30 sq mi 2.94 sq mi 2.63 sq mi 4.03 sq mi 4.07 sq mi 2.23 sq mi 3.55 sq mi 3.00 sq mi
Incorporated 1894 1923 1894 1894 1906 1903 1894 1840
Housing and commute
Typical home price $580k - $750k $600k - $750k $600k - $750k $750k - $1.1M+ $700k - $950k $540k - $700k $850k - $1.3M+ ~$780k median
Train station Westwood station Hillsdale station Park Ridge station Montvale station Closest station: Emerson, a short drive. Emerson station Woodcliff Lake station Closest station: Westwood, a short drive.
Commute 60-70 min to Midtown 60-70 min to Midtown 60-70 min to Midtown 60-75 min to Midtown No train. Drive to GWB: 45-70 min 55-65 min to Midtown 60-70 min to Midtown No train. Drive to GWB: 40-65 min
Schools
K-8 district Westwood Regional School District Hillsdale Public Schools Park Ridge Public Schools Montvale Public Schools River Vale Public Schools Emerson Public Schools Woodcliff Lake Public Schools Westwood Regional School District
High school Westwood Regional High School Pascack Valley High School (Hillsdale) Park Ridge Jr./Sr. High School Pascack Hills High School Pascack Valley High School (Hillsdale) Emerson Jr./Sr. High School Pascack Hills High School Westwood Regional High School
High school district Westwood Regional School District Pascack Valley Regional Park Ridge Public Schools Pascack Valley Regional Pascack Valley Regional Emerson Public Schools Pascack Valley Regional Westwood Regional School District
Taxes
Average residential tax bill $12,160 (2025) $15,867 (2025) $15,830 (2025) $14,026 (2025) $17,197 (2025) $15,311 (2025) $20,627 (2025) $13,477 (2025)
Effective tax rate 1.854% 2.126% 2.195% 1.989% 2.044% 2.273% 1.888% 1.811%
Average assessed value $562,575 $476,583 $474,936 $549,604 $613,982 $447,776 $943,698 $471,499
Income and households
Median household income $165,781 $186,688 $171,029 $178,269 $213,666 $155,536 $213,981 $180,133
Median family income $181,263 $208,333 $209,324 $187,612 $232,300 $161,741 $246,012 $186,250
Median home value $606,400 $677,500 $706,200 $709,700 $775,000 $645,200 $946,400 $664,000
Median rent $2,458 $1,764 $2,257 $2,053 $1,455 $1,887 $1,888 $2,357
Own their home 62.9% 92.8% 81.0% 80.0% 90.0% 91.8% 86.3% 97.0%
Average household size 2.77 2.90 2.80 2.84 2.85 2.70 2.80 2.80
School performance
High school ELA, grade 9 50.5% 79.5% 86.4% 84.1% 79.5% 44.1% 84.1% 50.5%
High school math, Algebra I 33.6% 51.8% 74.1% 58.0% 51.8% 55.2% 58.0% 33.6%
Graduation rate 97.0% 98.9% 94.7% 96.4% 98.9% 100.0% 96.4% 97.0%
Mean SAT 536 math / 557 reading 580 math / 586 reading 569 math / 585 reading 594 math / 600 reading 580 math / 586 reading 543 math / 550 reading 594 math / 600 reading 536 math / 557 reading
Lower-grade ELA 70.1% (K-12 district-wide) 82.7% 78.9% (K-12 district-wide) 81.6% 81.1% 60.8% (K-12 district-wide) 85.9% 70.1% (K-12 district-wide)
Lower-grade math 60.2% (K-12 district-wide) 68.3% 67.1% (K-12 district-wide) 68.8% 70.5% 61.6% (K-12 district-wide) 73.1% 60.2% (K-12 district-wide)
Who lives here
White, not Hispanic or Latino 56.4% 78.9% 77.9% 69.4% 71.0% 69.6% 72.6% 80.3%
Asian (any ethnicity) 7.7% 7.8% 3.0% 13.8% 14.7% 15.6% 9.3% 6.1%
Hispanic or Latino, any race 26.2% 9.8% 15.8% 8.9% 8.3% 10.7% 8.0% 9.7%
Black (any ethnicity) 4.2% 0.6% 1.5% 5.2% 1.4% 1.4% 1.1% 1.4%
Two or more races 22.0% 9.7% 9.6% 7.8% 10.0% 9.8% 7.5% 8.8%
Born outside the US 21.4% 12.3% 12.2% 20.6% 15.9% 19.6% 11.5% 13.0%
Speak a language other than English at home 27.3% 15.9% 14.5% 24.0% 18.7% 28.1% 15.1% 18.8%
Local government
Mayor Raymond Arroyo (Republican) Michael Sheinfield (Democrat) Keith Misciagna (Democrat) Michael N. Ghassali (Republican) Mark Bromberg (Republican) Danielle DiPaola (Republican) Carlos Rendo (Republican) Peter Calamari (Republican)
Term ends December 2027 December 2027 December 2027 December 2027 December 2026 December 2026 December 2027 December 2029
Governing body Borough form: mayor plus 6-member council Borough form: mayor plus 6-member council Borough form: mayor plus 6-member council Borough form: mayor plus 6-member council Faulkner Act mayor-council: mayor plus 5-member council Borough form: mayor plus 6-member council Borough form: mayor plus 6-member council Faulkner Act mayor-council: mayor plus 5-member council
Council makeup 5 Republicans, 1 Democrat 4 Republicans, 2 Democrats 4 Republicans, 2 Democrats 6 Republicans 5 members; 2 elected on the Republican line, party not published for the rest 6 Republicans 3 Republicans, 3 Democrats 5 members; 2 elected on the Republican line, party not published for the other 3
Town hall 201-664-7100 201-666-4800 201-573-1800 201-391-5700 201-664-2346 201-262-6086 201-391-4977 201-664-4404
Public library Westwood Free Public Library (BCCLS) Hillsdale Free Public Library (BCCLS) Park Ridge Public Library (BCCLS) Montvale Free Public Library (BCCLS) River Vale Public Library (BCCLS) Emerson Public Library No municipal library; the borough reimburses a membership at a neighboring library Township of Washington Public Library
How the town votes
2024 president, Dem 52.5% 49.6% 46.2% 47.5% 47.8% 43.2% 51.6% 40.6%
2024 president, Rep 46.1% 48.5% 52.2% 50.2% 50.7% 55.3% 47.0% 57.4%
Registered voters 8,500 (Nov 2025) 8,460 (Nov 2025) 7,314 (Nov 2025) 7,404 (Nov 2025) 8,702 (Nov 2025) 5,679 (Nov 2025) 4,994 (Nov 2025) 7,750 (Nov 2025)

About the school figures. These are district-level results from the New Jersey Department of Education, 2024-25. Several towns share a high school, so their figures match: Hillsdale and River Vale both attend Pascack Valley High School, Montvale and Woodcliff Lake both attend Pascack Hills, and Westwood and Washington Township share Westwood Regional. Proficiency is the share of students meeting or exceeding expectations on the state test. High school figures use grade 9 ELA and Algebra I, because Park Ridge and Emerson house grades 7 to 12 in one building and their school-wide numbers would otherwise include middle schoolers. For the four towns with their own K-8 district the lower-grade figures cover K-8; the state publishes no K-8 subtotal for K-12 districts, so those cells show the district-wide figure and say so. For reference, the 2024-25 state mean SAT was 519 math and 533 reading and writing.

About the census figures. Published by the US Census Bureau (ACS 2020-2024 5-Year), shown here as reported. Hispanic or Latino is an ethnicity the Census counts separately from race, so that row overlaps the others and the column does not total 100%. The White figure excludes Hispanic respondents; the Asian, Black and two-or-more-races figures include people of any ethnicity. These are survey estimates and carry margins of error, published alongside each figure at the source.

Civic and election figures verified September 2026. Mayors, councils and tax bills change — check the town's own site before relying on them.

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