Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 18,834, an increase of 773 (+4.3%) from the 2010 census count of 18,061, which in turn reflected a decline of 49 (−0.3%) from the 18,110 counted in the 2000 census.Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023.
Rutherford was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on September 21, 1881, from portions of Union Township, based on the results of a referendum held on the previous day.Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 86. Accessed May 30, 2024. The borough was named for John Rutherfurd, a U.S. Senator who owned land in the area.Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed September 27, 2015.Gannett, Henry. The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, p. 268. United States Government Printing Office, 1905. Accessed September 27, 2015.
Rutherford has been called the "Borough of Trees" and "The First Borough of Bergen County",Rutherford Borough . Accessed November 13, 2008. and is known as well for its pedestrian-focused downtown area adjacent to the borough's Bergen County Line (New Jersey Transit) railway station.
History The ridge above the New Jersey Meadowlands upon which Rutherford sits was settled by Lenape Native Americans long before the arrival of Walling Van Winkle in 1687. Union Avenue, which runs from the Meadowlands to the Passaic River, may have been an Indian trail, but was more likely a property boundary line; it was referenced in the 1668 grant of land by proprietary Governor Philip Carteret to John Berry.
During the early days of settlement, the land that is now Rutherford was part of New Barbadoes Township, as Berry had lived in Barbados, another English colony, before claiming his grant in New Jersey. New Barbadoes was part of Essex County from 1693 to 1710, when Bergen County was formed. In 1826, the land became part of Lodi Township (of which today's remaining portion is now South Hackensack). When Hudson County was formed in 1840, the area that is today North Arlington, Lyndhurst, Rutherford and East Rutherford became part of Harrison Township (of which today's remaining portion is Harrison town). However, the area reverted to Bergen County in 1852 and became known as Union Township.
Part of the region was known as Boiling Springs for a powerful and ceaseless spring located in the vicinity. Despite its name, the spring actually consisted of cold groundwater seeps rather than hot springs.J. M. Van Valen. History of Bergen County, New Jersey, New Jersey Publishing and Engraving Company, NY, 1900. See Page 413, Chapter XXVI - Union Township.
The Erie Railroad built its Main Line from Jersey City across the Meadowlands in the 1840s. Daniel Van Winkle, a descendant of Walling, donated land in 1866 for a train station at Boiling Springs. Several resorts were built along the Passaic, with guests disembarking at Boiling Springs station and taking Union Avenue to the river. Later, the railroad opened a station closer to the river, at Carlton Hill, and a horsecar line (briefly on rails) along Jackson Ave took travelers to the resort area.
At the time, much of the property in Rutherford was farmland owned by the estate of John Rutherfurd, a former New Jersey legislator and U.S. Senator, whose homestead was along the Passaic River, near present-day Rutherford Avenue.Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed November 14, 2015. Van Winkle opened a real estate office at Depot Square (now Station Square) to sell the land of the Rutherfurd Park Association, and began to lay out the area's street grid. The main roads were Orient Way, a wide boulevard heading south-southwest from Station Square, and Park Avenue, which headed west-southwest from Station Square to bring traffic to the new Valley Brook Race Course in what is now Lyndhurst.
In the 1870s, the area began to be called "Rutherford". The definitive reason for the change in spelling of the final syllable from "furd" to "ford" is unknown, though the change may have been the result of name recognition of the Ohio politician Rutherford B. Hayes, who was elected President in 1876, or could have been because of a clerical error by the United States Postal Service.2007 Master Plan - Final Draft 6.28.07, Borough of Rutherford, p. 47. Accessed February 28, 2013. "In the 1870s, the area came to be known as Rutherford. The spelling change is either a clerical error by the U.S. Post Office or a result of name recognition of the Ohio politician Rutherford B. Hayes who was elected President in 1876." The Post Office opened a facility called "Rutherford" in 1876. On September 21, 1881, the Borough of Rutherford was formed by formal vote of secession from Union Township. By then, the community had about 1,000 residents.
In August 2025, a fire destroyed the Victorian building of Congregation Beth-El, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue dating back to its founding in 1919. In 2012, a Molotov cocktail had been thrown the synagogue.Maag, Chistopher; and Bonamo, Mark. "New Jersey Synagogue Burns to Ground as Rabbi and Family Escape", The New York Times, August 8, 2025. Accessed August 13, 2025. "A fire destroyed a New Jersey synagogue early Friday morning as the rabbi, his wife and four of their children narrowly escaped without injuries. The fire at Congregation Beth El, in a residential neighborhood in Rutherford, started around 2:50 a.m., Mayor Frank Nunziato said.... The synagogue, which was founded in 1919, occupied a large building that was once a residential home, and contained old wood and varnish that might explain the speed with which the fire engulfed the structure, the mayor said."
Historic sites Rutherford is home to the following locations on the National Register of Historic Places: Iviswold – 223 Montross Avenue (added 2004). Located on the campus of Felician College, a $9 million renovation project of the Iviswold castle that took 14 years was completed in 2013. Originally constructed by Floyd W. Tomkins in 1869, the house was expanded to three levels, 25 rooms and by textbook publisher David Brinkerhoff Iverson after he acquired the home in 1887, based on a design by architect William H. Miller.Malysa, Matthew. "Days of grandeur here again for Rutherford's Iviswold Castle", South Bergenite, March 27, 2013. Accessed December 16, 2013. "The $9 million transformation of the historical Iviswold Castle on Felician College campus in Rutherford is finally complete-after nearly 14 years of careful, step-by-step restoration." Kip Homestead – 12 Meadow Road (added 1983).O'Keefe, Daniel. "Historic sites incorporated into Master Plan", South Bergenite, January 27, 2011. Accessed September 17, 2015. "Up until this resolution was adopted, Rutherford's Master Plan only recognized seven sites in the borough that were already on the state or national register of historic sites. They include Iviswold Castle at Felician College, the Kip Homestead at 12 Meadow Rd...." Rutherford station – Station Square (added 1984). New Jersey Transit initiated a $1 million project in 2009 to renovate the station, which had been constructed in 1898, to restore the interior of the structure."NJ Transit Approves Interior Work On Rutherford Station; Project will continue restoration of historic station building", NJ Transit, press release dated May 13, 2009. Accessed December 16, 2013. William Carlos Williams House – 9 Ridge Road (added 1973).Leith, Rod. "History Chest: Breakthrough in search for birth place of William Carlos Williams", South Bergenite, December 11, 2014. Accessed September 19, 2015. "Dr. Williams gave an address for his office and residence as 9 Ridge Road, a house he purchased in 1913 and where he died March 4, 1963." Yereance-Berry House – 91 Crane Avenue (added 1983).Hickey, James P. "Meadowlands Museum maps out history of Rutherford", South Bergenite, June 27, 2013. Accessed September 19, 2015. "The map exhibit highlights the museum's Yereance Berry House's location from the 1680s to the present."
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 2.89 square miles (7.49 km2), including 2.78 square miles (7.20 km2) of land and 0.11 square miles (0.29 km2) of water (3.88%).
Rutherford is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan.Patterson, Mary Jo. "Real Estate: Rutherford, N.J., Quiet Outpost Beyond the Tunnel", The New York Times, July 29, 2015. Accessed September 19, 2015. "Quiet residential neighborhoods are many in a borough that could be considered the first suburban outpost along the Route 3 corridor from the Lincoln Tunnel."
The borough is bounded by the Passaic River bordering Clifton and Passaic in Passaic County to the west, the Erie Railroad bordering East Rutherford to the north and east, the Hackensack River bordering Secaucus to the southeast, and Berrys Creek, Wall Street West and Rutherford Avenue bordering Lyndhurst to the south and southwest.Areas touching Rutherford, MapIt. Accessed March 5, 2020.Bergen County Map of Municipalities, Bergen County, New Jersey. Accessed March 5, 2020.New Jersey Municipal Boundaries, New Jersey Department of Transportation. Accessed November 15, 2019.
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Rutherford borough, New Jersey – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)13,69612,29811,24275.63%68.09%59.69%Black or African American alone (NH)4754546312.62%2.51%3.35%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)812270.04%0.07%0.14%Asian alone (NH)2,0542,3402,68811.34%12.96%14.27%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)5060.03%0.00%0.03%Other race alone (NH)38611240.21%0.34%0.66%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)2793537211.54%1.95%3.83%Hispanic or Latino (any race)1,5552,5433,3958.59%14.08%18.03%Total18,11018,06118,834100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census As of the 2020 census, Rutherford had a population of 18,834. The median age was 39.8 years. 20.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 15.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.0 males age 18 and over.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 7,061 households in Rutherford, of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 53.2% were married-couple households, 15.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 7,370 housing units, of which 4.2% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.7%.
Income and Poverty Income and Earnings $136,069 Median Household Income Families - $160,363 Married-couple families - $193,984 Nonfamily households - $70,638
Poverty 4.8% Poverty Under 18 years - 4.2% 18–64 years - 4.3% 65 years and over - 7.8%
Education Educational Attainment Population 25 Years and Older High school or equivalent - 17.3% Some college - 13.2% Associate's degree- 5.3% Bachelor's degree - 35.6% Graduate or professional degree - 23.2%
2010 census