The Village of Ridgewood was created on November 20, 1894, with the same boundaries as Ridgewood Township. The Village became the municipal government while the Township remained as a school district. In 1902, the village added portions of Orvil Township, which were returned to Orvil Township in 1915. In 1925, Ridgewood Village acquired area from Franklin Township (now Wyckoff). On February 9, 1971, Ridgewood Village acquired area from Washington Township. On May 28, 1974, it acquired area from Ho-Ho-Kus.
In 1700, Johannes Van Emburgh built the first home in Ridgewood.
New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Ridgewood as the 61st best place to live in New Jersey in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey.
As of the census of 2000, there were 24,936 people, 8,603 households, and 6,779 families residing in the village. The population density was 4,308.9 people per square mile (1,662.8/km). There were 8,802 housing units at an average density of 1,521.0/sq mi (587.0/km). The racial makeup of the village was 87.82% White, 1.64% African American, 0.04% Native American, 8.67% Asian, 0.59% from other races, and 1.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.78% of the population.
There were 8,603 households out of which 44.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.4% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.2% were non-families. 18.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.87 and the average family size was 3.30 .
In the village, the population was spread out with 30.0% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males.
According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the village was $121,662, and the median income for a family was $147,965. Males had a median income of $90,422 versus $50,248 for females. The per capita income for the village was $51,658. About 1.8% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.5% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.
Ridgewood ranks at #15 on Money Magazines 25 top-earning towns in the USA.
The Ridgewood station is serviced by the New Jersey Transit Main Line as well as the Bergen County Line. The station features three platforms. The first is for all trains headed south towards Hoboken Terminal. The second is for Bergen County Line trains headed in the same direction, and the third is for Main Line trains headed towards Suffern and Port Jervis. While NJTransit trains on both the Bergen and the Main Lines go to Hoboken, they stop at the new Secaucus Junction, allowing for transfers to trains heading to Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan and other destinations served by the station. Parking is limited near the Ridgewood train station. There are usually taxicabs available right at the train station for those arriving in Ridgewood, as the taxi building is on the northbound platform.
New Jersey Transit buses in Ridgewood include 144, 145, 148, 162, 163 and 164 to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, the 175 to the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal, and local service offered on the 722 (to Paramus Park and Paterson), 746 (to Paterson, as Ridgewood is its terminus) and 752 (to Hackensack). routes.
The southern terminus of Franklin Turnpike is in Ridgewood. Other roads that go through Ridgewood are New Jersey Route 17 and County Route 507.