Fair Lawn

Bergen County35,610 residentsFair Lawn Public School District
65
C+
Suburbgrade score

3rd of 60 New York suburbs. Strong on schools and amenities, held back by commute & transport.

Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Fair Lawn yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 65 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →

What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.

What Fair Lawn is like to live in, by category

Bars show Fair Lawn against New York. Weights are published in full.

Housing & affordability

18% of the score · 53/100
C−
Median home value$564,700
New York $614,200
Median rent$1,917/mo
New York $1,830/mo
Cost-burdened households31%
New York 42%

Schools

18% of the score · 90/100
A
Within-state proficiency86th pct
New York median 35th pct
Student–teacher ratio11.5
New York median 11.6
Graduation rate96%
New York median 88%
EDFacts SY2021–22 · NCES CCD 2024–25 · EDFacts ACGR SY2018–19Full page →

Cost of living

14% of the score · 64/100
C+
Housing cost index101
New York 100
Eff. tax rate2.10%
New York 1.37%
Local sales tax6.60%
New York median 8.54%
Composed in-house · ACS 2020–24 · ACS 2020–24 · Tax Foundation state average, January 1, 2026Full page →

Commute & transport

14% of the score · 46/100
D
Mean commute31.3 min
New York 35.6 min
Under 30 minutes55%
New York 44%
Transit stops / sq mi1.7
New York median 2.5 · within 2 miles

Amenities

12% of the score · 75/100
B
Restaurants & cafés57
New York median 59 · within 2 miles
Groceries8
New York median 8 · within 2 miles
Parks83
New York median 61 · within 2 miles

Employment & income

12% of the score · 62/100
C
Median household income$144,574
New York $99,155
Unemployment6.2%
New York 6.8%
Professional occupations63%
New York 48%

Residents

12% of the score · inactive
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No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.

Ask the people who live here

Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.

0 responses·Residents category: waiting for first responses·Live

Nobody has answered for Fair Lawn yet. If you live here, you can be the first.

Is it quiet at night?
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Do you feel safe walking after dark?
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Can you walk to a grocery store?
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Is it good for young children?
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Are yards and streets well kept?
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Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →

Better than Fair Lawn on commute & transport

Fair Lawn's weakest grade is D. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.

Mean commute: ACS 2020–24 · Commuting under 30 minutes: ACS 2020–24

Common questions about living in Fair Lawn

Is Fair Lawn, NJ a good place to live?

Fair Lawn scores 65 out of 100, 3rd of 60 New York suburbs. It is strongest on schools and weakest on commute & transport. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.

Is Fair Lawn expensive to live in?

Cost of living grades C+. The median home is $564,700, 8% below the New York median, and the effective property tax rate is 2.10%. $1,917/mo is the median gross rent.

How good are the schools in Fair Lawn?

Schools grade A. The districts serving Fair Lawn sit at the 86th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 96% graduation rate and a 11.5 student–teacher ratio. Fair Lawn is served by Fair Lawn Public School District. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.

How long is the commute from Fair Lawn?

The mean commute is 31.3 min, with 55% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 20% working from home. Transit density is 1.7 stops per square mile.

Can you walk anywhere in Fair Lawn?

Within two miles there are 8 groceries, 57 restaurants and cafés and 83 parks, which grades B on amenities.

Are the homes in Fair Lawn old or new?

The median home in Fair Lawn was built in 1953 — older than the New York median of 1960. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 80% of homes are houses rather than flats.

Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.