2020 Census
As of the 2020 Census, Rutherford borough had a population of 18,834 with 6,835 households.

Of that population, 71.3% was white, 2.3% was black or African American, 0.2% was American Indian and Alaska Native, 16.2% was asian, 7.7% was two or more races, and 22.7% was Hispanic or Latino.

Of the total population, 50.6% were female. There were 455 veterans living in the borough and 24.5% were foreign born persons.

The median household income was $106,817 with a per capita income of $48,764. 5.8% of the population lived beneath the poverty threshold.

95.0% of persons 25 years and older had a high school diploma, or more. And 51.9% of persons 25 years and older had a Bachelor’s degree or higher. 94.1% of the households had a computer and 89.8% had a broadband internet subscription.

The Rutherford School District serves the borough’s public school students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of five schools, had an enrollment of 2,652 students and 208.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.7:1. Public education began in Rutherford prior to 1900, but the oldest school structure that is still standing is the former Park School, built in 1902. It is currently the home of the Rutherford borough hall, on Park Avenue. Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Kindergarten Center (opened in 2014), Lincoln School (490 students; in grades Pre-K–3), Washington School (326; 1–3), Pierrepont School (595; 4–6), Union School (424; 7–8) and Rutherford High School (762; 9–12), built in 1922 and expanded in 1959 and 2005.

Rutherford formerly had three “neighborhood” schools for grades K–5 (Washington, Lincoln, and Sylvan) which fed into two “magnet” schools for 6–8. The magnet schools also served as elementary schools for their neighborhoods. Sylvan School was closed at the end of the 2004–2005 school year and has become a handicapped preschool, as well as office space for the special services department.

Rutherford Memorial Park, in the northwest corner of town along the Passaic, was set aside as parkland by the voters in 1951. Its 30 acres (120,000 m2) include two baseball diamonds, five softball diamonds, a Little League Baseball field, a football stadium, six tennis courts, two basketball courts, and three playgrounds. Other active recreation parks include Tamblyn Field, near Route 3.

The borough also has several smaller passive parks, including Lincoln Park across from borough hall, which was renovated in 2004. It includes a band shell and several monuments, including a cannon dating to the Spanish–American War, and is home to the borough’s 9/11 memorial, containing a piece of steel debris recovered from the site of the attacks. Sunset Park is located just north of the intersection of Union and Jackson Avenues and is on the western-facing side of a rather steep hill. A plan to redesign the park is currently being developed. Firefighters’ Memorial Park is a pocket park located at the intersection of Park and Mortimer Avenues.

Lincoln Park has been host to town events, concerts, and memorials for decades. The Rutherford Community Band plays concerts during the summer. Other summer concerts are sponsored by the borough, as well as several movie nights in the park. In the fall, it has hosted the Bergen County Cultural Festival, which is funded and run by the Civil Rights Commission.

The Nereid Boat Club occupies a former boat sales building on the Passaic, at the foot of Newell Avenue. The rowing club, established in Nutley in 1875, relocated to Rutherford in 1996.

Police
The Rutherford Police Department (RPD) provides emergency and protective services to the borough of Rutherford. The RPD consists of 33 officers and five cadets currently in training. The current chief is John Russo who was appointed on March 26, 2013. The RPD responds to approximately 11,000 calls per year and conducts criminal investigations through its detective bureau.

The police department was originally organized in June 1879 as the Rutherford Protective and Detective Association.

Fire
The Rutherford Fire Department (RFD) is an all-volunteer fire department. The RFD was organized in May 1871 and consists of one Chief, one deputy chief and three assistant chiefs. There are five fire companies in three fire houses. Each company has a Captain and a Lieutenant. The department is staffed by 75 fully trained firefighters. The RFD utilizes three Engines, a Ladder truck, a Heavy Rescue, a Special Service Unit and two boats.

Two of Rutherford’s firefighters—Edwin L. Ward in 1965 and Thomas E. Dunn in 1994—have died in the line of duty.

Ambulance
The Rutherford First Aid-Ambulance Corps is a volunteer service that was organized in 1949. The corp consists of 40 members that operate under the supervision of the Captain, First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant. The corps provides basic life support, and is staffed primarily by certified Emergency Medical Technicians. CPR-trained drivers are also sometimes on duty. They operate three Type III ambulances.

Public transportation

Rutherford Train Station
Thanks to its easy access to New York City by rail, Rutherford became an early bedroom community. Following the initial wave of settlement in the late 19th century, an additional building boom occurred in the 1920s, when the majority of the borough’s current housing stock was constructed.

Public Service Railway brought trolley lines into Rutherford around the start of the 20th century. The lines extended east to Jersey City, south to Newark, north to Hackensack, and west to Passaic. By the late 1940s, the trolleys were replaced by bus service.

After the opening of the Lincoln Tunnel in 1937, the Inter-City Bus Company began bus service direct from Paterson to New York City. The line was taken over by NJ Transit in the early 1980s.

Today, NJ Transit offers service to and from New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan on several routes. The 163 offers rush hour service only, as Rutherford is not typically along its route. The 190 offers local service along Union Avenue and Orient Way. The 191, 192 and 195 routes all serve the portion of Rutherford that is adjacent to Route 3, as well as the portion of Route 17 that goes through Rutherford. The 76 bus provides service between Hackensack and Newark.

Rutherford’s train station, which was built by the Erie Railroad in 1898, serves passengers on NJ Transit’s Bergen County Line. Service is available to Suffern and various stations along Metro-North Railroad’s Port Jervis Line, as well as all other Bergen County Line stations as Rutherford is the last stop before Secaucus Junction. Service is also provided to Hoboken Terminal with connections to Hudson–Bergen Light Rail, PATH, and NY Waterway service, and customers can connect at Secaucus for trains to New York Penn Station, Newark Liberty International Airport, and points west and south along the Morris & Essex Lines, North Jersey Coast Line, Northeast Corridor Line, and Montclair-Boonton Line. Access to the Raritan Valley Line is available at either Hoboken or at Newark Penn Station via Secaucus.