Rutherford is a medium-sized borough located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 18,852 people and four associated neighborhoods, Rutherford is the 107th largest community in New Jersey. Rutherford has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic boroughs in the country.

Housing costs in Rutherford are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in New Jersey.

Of important note, Rutherford is also a borough of artists. Rutherford has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Rutherford’s character.

Also of interest is that Rutherford has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 20.22% 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.

Rutherford, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the borough.

One downside of living in Rutherford is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Rutherford, the average commute to work is 33.53 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the borough, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative. In addition, it is also a pedestrian-friendly borough. Many of Rutherford’s neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot.

Even though Rutherford is a smaller borough, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly the bus for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding cities.

If knowledge is power, Rutherford is a pretty powerful place. 58.82% of the adults in Rutherford have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Rutherford in 2022 was $60,912, which is upper middle income relative to New Jersey, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $243,648 for a family of four.

Rutherford is an extremely ethnically-diverse borough. The people who call Rutherford home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Rutherford residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Rutherford also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 21.65% of the borough’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Rutherford include Italian, Irish, German, Polish, and English.

Rutherford also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 25.19%.

The most common language spoken in Rutherford is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Langs. of India.