Living in Bergen County, NJ: A Guide for Home Buyers

Living in Bergen County, NJ means choosing among 70 municipalities in New Jersey's most populous county, with the Hudson River and the Palisades on its eastern edge and the Ramapo Mountains in the northwest. You can reach Manhattan by NJ Transit train with a transfer at Secaucus Junction or Hoboken, by bus, by weekday ferry from Edgewater, or by car over the George Washington Bridge. Bergen also has a 9,800-acre county park system and one of the last remaining Sunday shopping laws in the United States.

I'm Angela Becerra, a Sales Associate with Prominent Properties Sotheby's International Realty, based in Rahway and serving buyers in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Union and Middlesex counties. Every fact below links to its source.

Living in Bergen County, NJ: where it is and how it's laid out

Bergen is in the northeastern corner of New Jersey. Its neighbors are Rockland County, NY to the north; Manhattan, the Bronx and Westchester County across the Hudson to the east; Hudson County and a short stretch of Essex County to the south; and Passaic County to the west.

The land changes a lot from east to west. The Palisades rise from the Hudson along the eastern edge, the Hackensack River valley and Pascack Valley run through the center, and the Ramapo Mountains rise in the northwest. The high point is Bald Mountain in Mahwah, near the New York line, at 1,164 feet; the low point is sea level along the Hudson.

Bergen is one of New Jersey's four original counties, created in 1683, and the county describes itself as a 239-square-mile area. Hackensack has been the county seat since 1710 and is its most populous municipality, with 46,030 residents in 2020. County offices are at One Bergen County Plaza, Hackensack (201-336-6000).

Getting around and commuting to New York

Bergen's train lines run to Hoboken Terminal by way of Secaucus Junction. At Secaucus you can transfer to trains for New York Penn Station; at Hoboken you can connect to PATH, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and NY Waterway ferries.

• The Hackensack Bus Terminal on River Street has routes to Newark Penn Station (76), Journal Square (83) and the GWB Bus Station (178, 182).
• The George Washington Bridge's upper level opened on October 25, 1931. On day one, the Port Authority notes, 57,788 vehicles and one man on a horse crossed.
• Light rail doesn't reach Bergen County yet. The Northern Branch Corridor Project would extend it from North Bergen to Ridgefield, Palisades Park, Leonia and Englewood; in November 2025 NJ Transit released a request for proposals for a consultant to prepare a new Environmental Impact Statement.
• Teterboro Airport, owned by the Port Authority, is a general-aviation airport with no commercial airline service.

Door-to-door times depend on the train, the transfer and the hour, and routes and schedules change, so check NJ Transit and try the trip when you'd actually travel.

Parks, open space and culture

The Palisades are cliffs that run about 20 miles along the Hudson, from Jersey City to near Nyack, NY. They formed about 200 million years ago and were designated a National Natural Landmark in 1983. The New Jersey Section of Palisades Interstate Park protects 2,500 acres within 12 miles of riverfront and clifftop, with more than 30 miles of trails, Fort Lee Historic Park, State Line Lookout and picnic areas. The cliffs' highest point in New Jersey is Point Lookout, at State Line Lookout in Alpine, 520 feet above sea level.

The Bergen County Department of Parks manages 9,800 acres, including 21 parks, 9 historic sites, 6 golf courses and the Bergen County Zoo. Three to know:

• Van Saun County Park (in Paramus and River Edge): more than 130 acres with the zoo, a carousel, a miniature train, over 3 miles of paths and the Washington Spring Garden historic site.
• Overpeck County Park: more than 805 acres with 5 miles of trails, a canoe and kayak launch into Overpeck Creek and athletic fields.
• Ramapo Valley County Reservation (Mahwah): over 4,000 acres with marked trails, the Ramapo River and seasonal tent camping by permit.

The Meadowlands wetlands lie mainly along the lower Hackensack and Passaic rivers, and MetLife Stadium and American Dream are in East Rutherford. Fort Lee, where many early films were shot at the turn of the 20th century and which was at one time “the motion picture capital of America,” is home to the Barrymore Film Center, which opened in October 2022.

Schools and colleges: the facts

I share district names and official sources rather than rankings, and I always suggest confirming the school district for a specific address with the district itself.

• Bergen County Technical Schools is the county's vocational and technical school district for all 70 municipalities, with campuses in Hackensack, Teterboro and Paramus.
• Bergen County Academies in Hackensack is a tuition-free public magnet high school with seven academies. Under the district's published admissions guide for the Class of 2029, applicants had to be eighth graders living in Bergen County and went through an application, an entrance test and an interview; check the current year's guide before applying.
• Bergen Community College opened in 1968, with its main campus in Paramus and locations in Hackensack and Lyndhurst.
• Fairleigh Dickinson University's Metropolitan Campus straddles the Hackensack River in Hackensack and Teaneck.

Housing and towns: 70 municipalities to choose from

Bergen has more municipalities than any other New Jersey county: 56 boroughs, nine townships, three cities and two villages. It counted 955,732 residents in the 2020 Census.

Along the Hudson, four Bergen towns, Fairview, Cliffside Park, Edgewater and Fort Lee, are part of the Hudson Waterfront, sometimes called the “Gold Coast,” a term real estate agents, brokers and developers coined in the 1980s. Since the 1990s, much of the new building along the waterfront has been high-density residential, office and retail, often on former industrial land. Fort Lee, atop the Palisades at the New Jersey end of the George Washington Bridge, has many established high-rise residential buildings. Farther north, the New Jersey Section of Palisades Interstate Park runs the length of Alpine, along the clifftops and the river.

Inland, the rail lines serve towns from Westwood and Park Ridge on the Pascack Valley Line to Ridgewood and Ramsey on the Bergen County and Main lines. Mahwah is the largest municipality by area, at 26.19 square miles.

Major employers include Hackensack University Medical Center, a 950-bed teaching hospital and verified Level 1 trauma center that, as of 2021, was the county's largest employer, with around 9,000 employees. The county's Corporate Community page lists companies such as LG Electronics, Becton Dickinson, Samsung, BMW and Quest Diagnostics. Paramus is home to Westfield Garden State Plaza and Paramus Park.

Buying in Bergen County: what to know

• Plan around Sunday closings. Under a state law that Bergen County still enforces, stores can't sell clothing, building and lumber supplies, furniture, home and office furnishings or appliances on Sundays; real estate sales are among the exceptions. County voters rejected repeal in 1980 and again, 2 to 1, in 1993. In August 2025, Paramus sued American Dream over its Sunday openings (the mall says its state-owned site is exempt), and as of April 2026 the case was still in the courts. Paramus's own rules are stricter. Furnishing a new home? Shop Monday through Saturday.
• Choose your line before your house. The Pascack Valley Line, the Bergen County and Main lines, bus corridors and the ferry each serve different towns.
• Check town-level details. With 70 municipalities, confirm the school district, property taxes and local rules for each address.
• Buying your first home? Start with our first-time buyer guide.

How Angela helps

I help buyers compare towns side by side, set up searches, tour homes and coordinate with attorneys, lenders and inspectors through closing. Our community guides cover Bergen towns including Edgewater, Fort Lee, Alpine, Tenafly, Englewood and Englewood Cliffs.

Thinking about a move to Bergen County? Contact me in English or Spanish, and we'll map out the towns, train lines and homes that fit your plans.

This article is for general educational purposes only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Facts come from the linked sources as of September 2026 and may change; confirm details with the source. Angela Becerra is a New Jersey real estate licensee (License #1970190) affiliated with Prominent Properties Sotheby's International Realty. Equal Housing Opportunity.

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