The title compound, C(16)H(13)NO(3), crystallizes with two independent mol-ecules (A and B) in the asymmetric unit. The dihedral angle between the mean planes of the 4-methyl-phenyl and 3-nitro-phenyl groups is 4.0 (3)° in mol-ecule A and 16.2 (7)° in mol-ecule B. Inter-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen bonding involving the O atoms of the 3-nitro-phenyl group of both independent mol-ecules link the mol-ecules into layers approximately parallel to the (110) plane. The layers are held together by π-π stacking inter-actions between the 4-methyl-phenyl ring of mol-ecule A and the 3-nitro-phenyl ring of mol-ecule B of the adjacent layer, with the distance between the centroids of inter-acting rings being 3.6987 (7) Å.