Demarest
The biggest houses and the biggest tax bill
Demarest is where the Northern Valley gets expensive. The average residential assessment is $1,446,665 and the average tax bill $26,112, nearly double what Northvale pays two towns away. What that buys is space: 94.3% of households own their home, the lots are large, and the commercial strip is short enough to list in one sentence. The regional high school sits here, which matters to the families who can walk to it.
- The highest average tax bill of the eight, by about $5,000
- Demarest Nature Center is 55 acres, free, open every day of the year and run entirely by volunteers
- 94.3% of households own their home, among the highest shares of the eight
- The commercial strip is a deli, a pizzeria, a Greek restaurant and a Dunkin. For anything else you drive to Closter
Getting to the city
Oradell or Emerson, Pascack Valley Line (~3.9-4.1 mi)
There is no passenger rail in Demarest. The nearest NJ Transit station is Oradell or Emerson, Pascack Valley Line (~3.9-4.1 mi).
No NJ Transit bus route serves the borough.
Commuter bus: Rockland Coaches 20/20T to Port Authority.
The George Washington Bridge is about 8.9 miles by road.
What you will find
The average residential assessment is $1,446,665 and the average tax bill $26,112 (2025), an effective rate of 1.924%.
Census ACS puts the median home value at $1,114,600, with 94.3% of households owning their home.
Northern Valley Regional
- K-8
- Demarest School District (County Road PK-1, Luther Lee Emerson 2-4, Demarest MS 5-8)
- High school
- Northern Valley Regional HS at Demarest
Demarest high schoolers attend Northern Valley Regional HS at Demarest, part of the Northern Valley Regional High School District. In 2024-25 it recorded 79.9% proficiency in grade 9 English and 63.5% in Algebra I, with a 100.0% graduation rate and mean SAT scores of 636 math / 629 reading. The state means were 50.0% grade 9 English, 38.1% Algebra I and 519 math / 533 reading. K-8 is Demarest School District (County Road PK-1, Luther Lee Emerson 2-4, Demarest MS 5-8), which recorded 83.1% proficiency in English and 79.3% in maths district-wide.
What people wish they knew
- The average tax bill is $26,112 (2025). Work that out against your budget before you fall for a house here.
- The effective rate, 1.924%, is the second-lowest of the eight. The bill is high because the assessments are high, not because the rate is.
- No train and no NJ Transit bus at all. Rockland Coaches 20/20T to Port Authority is the only bus service.
- Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest is in the borough, and also takes students from Closter and Haworth.
- The Nature Center receives no borough funding. It runs on volunteers and donations, and leads a community walk on the first Saturday of each month.