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Big city living isn't for everyone--but at the same time, urban areas certainly have their perks.
There's the culture, the food, the arts, the food, the energy, and you know, the food. But there are drawbacks. There's traffic, expensive parking, expensive housing--pretty much, expensive everything, depending on which big city you're looking at.
But that's where the suburbs come in--they have all of the benefits of being near big cities, without actually having to be big cities.
Of course, not all suburbs of Paterson are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado...
Here are the 10 best suburbs to live around Paterson for 2021:
What's the best suburb of Paterson? East Hills ranks as the best suburb of Paterson for 2021 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of East Hills, you're probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We'll tell you what makes each of these 10 Paterson 'burbs better than the rest--but first, a bit about our methodology.
Note: This result may differ from our state wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a larger selection of suburbs.
Feel free to check out some more reading about New Jersey:
The 10 Best Paterson Suburbs To Live For 2021
/10
Population: 7,147
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 3)
Median Income: $224,583
Unemployment Rate: 2.3%
Poverty Rate: 1.4%
More on East Hills: Real Estate | Data
East Hills is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Paterson area. We'll tell you the good about "Awesome East Hills."
Everyone here is rich; families average $224,583 a year, which is the 5th highest in the Paterson region. And only 2.32% are out of work. Homes average more than $1,055,300 each.
/10
Population: 17,837
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $250,001
Unemployment Rate: 2.5%
Poverty Rate: 2.1%
More on Scarsdale: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Scarsdale is the second best 'burb we looked at near Paterson for 2021.
It ranks 2nd for incomes in the area and only 0.87% of residents lack insurance, good for 13th best.
/10
Population: 5,796
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 2)
Median Income: $155,679
Unemployment Rate: 0.8%
Poverty Rate: 1.8%
More on North Hills: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Here in North Hills, it's really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you'll see in the Paterson metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in North Hills.
/10
Population: 4,094
Rank Last Year: 17 (Up 13)
Median Income: $216,875
Unemployment Rate: 3.9%
Poverty Rate: 0.0%
More on Ho-Ho-Kus: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Ho-Ho-Kus ranks as the 4th best suburb of Paterson for 2021.
You won't find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Ho-Ho-Kus and the schools are some of the best around.
/10
Population: 6,096
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 2)
Median Income: $215,375
Unemployment Rate: 5.3%
Poverty Rate: 2.7%
More on Larchmont: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Coming in as the fifth best is Larchmont.
Larchmont gets kudos for having the 10th most expensive homes in the Paterson area, where houses sell for an average of $1,148,900. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
/10
Population: 2,572
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 7)
Median Income: $196,625
Unemployment Rate: 2.4%
Poverty Rate: 4.9%
More on East Williston: Real Estate | Data | Photos
East Williston is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here's why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 2.45% which is 16th best in the area.
According to online reports, East Williston is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Paterson area, meaning you need to get in soon.
/10
Population: 5,832
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 1)
Median Income: $171,103
Unemployment Rate: 2.0%
Poverty Rate: 3.7%
More on Woodcliff Lake: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Woodcliff Lake.
Woodcliff Lake schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it's only 9.3 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
/10
Population: 6,615
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 2)
Median Income: $187,734
Unemployment Rate: 1.7%
Poverty Rate: 0.9%
More on North Caldwell: Real Estate | Data | Photos
North Caldwell is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 0.47% of people lack insurance, good for 3rd in the area.
/10
Population: 29,877
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 2)
Median Income: $170,798
Unemployment Rate: 2.7%
Poverty Rate: 3.1%
More on Westfield: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Is 'Everything Better In Westfield?'
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it's really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
/10
Population: 6,765
Rank Last Year: 41 (Up 31)
Median Income: $170,968
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 1.6%
More on Allendale: Real Estate | Data | Photos
And rounding out the top ten for 2021 is Allendale.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It's far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Paterson for 2021
Figuring out the best suburbs around Paterson was pretty simple; we just needed to list several things that people like, and then find out which cities have the most of those things.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:
- Low unemployment rate
- High Median household incomes
- Population density (lots of things to do)
- High home values
- A lot of college educated people
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
Then we used the newest American Community Survey data for 2015-2019 to research each suburb.
FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Paterson.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 206 suburbs to evaluate around Paterson.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 206 in each category, where 1 was the "best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index the "Best Suburb near Paterson." We're lookin' at you, East Hills. You can download the data here.
Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the best of the best. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
Welcome to the Best Paterson 'Burbs of 2021
We said it once and we'll say it again--life in the big city isn't for everyone. At least not all the time.
So if you're hankering for some of the amenities of a larger city like Paterson, but don't want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might just be for you.
For more New Jersey reading, check out:
