Fogelman grew up in what he has called an "endearingly dysfunctional" Jewish family in River Vale, New Jersey. Dan Fogelman attended Pascack Valley High School in nearby Hillsdale. He and his mother, Joyce, took a road trip from New Jersey to Las Vegas that became the basis for his 2012 film comedy The Guilt Trip, starring Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen as a mother and son on a cross-country road trip. His father, named Marty, became the namesake of the father in the 2012 television sitcom The Neighbors created by Fogelman, who has a sister who inspired the family daughter in this series.