Editor’s Note: This is not investment advice, and we are not financial advisers.
Suppose real estate is the most significant investment a majority of people make in their lifetime. In that case, it’s best to understand the places in New Jersey with best potential return on investment.
After working in real estate adjacent roles for over a decade, I had the hypothesis that the best place to buy for a return on investment would be up-and-coming cities. Smaller cities where crime might be high now, but people still move to.
To test my hypothesis, we are going to look at places in New Jersey that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average, and crime rates are higher than average.
In everyday terms, these might be “deals”. The best deal in New Jersey at the moment according to Saturday Night Science? That would be Avon-by-the-Sea.
12.7% population growth · 6.2% home price growth
8.9% population growth · 3.3% home price growth
7.0% population growth · -0.6% home price growth
0.9% population growth · -1.7% home price growth
0.1% population growth · 1.0% home price growth
1.4% population growth · 1.1% home price growth
-0.3% population growth · -4.8% home price growth
9.9% population growth · -0.3% home price growth
8.4% population growth · -0.3% home price growth
1.8% population growth · 2.7% home price growth
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is New Jersey’s statewide median.
New Jersey statewide median: $569,411
On the map
Where New Jersey’s best buys are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in New Jersey for 2026?
We were in real estate for almost five years and have worked on this site for over a decade. Suffice it to say we’ve put a lot of thought into finding an excellent place to buy a home.
So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we’d approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in New Jersey. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in New Jersey with undervalued homes relative to pent-up demand using Saturday Night Science.
To do that, we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2020-2024 and compared it to the previous vintage. Specifically, we used the following criteria:
- Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
- Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
- Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It’s still kinda cheap)
We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still “cheap” for New Jersey, with these caveats: home prices had to be within 20% of the state average, home prices increased in the last year, and the city had above 2,000 people.
So of the 543 cities and towns in New Jersey, only 396 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.
We then ranked each place from 1 to 396 for the above criteria, with 1 being the best. We averaged the rankings to create a “best place to buy” index, with the place having the lowest index being the best.
Turns out that Avon-by-the-Sea is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Garden State. The median New Jersey home is 55 years old — old enough that it pays to compare home warranty plans before something expensive breaks.
The full plate
Best Places To Buy A Home In New Jersey
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Median Home Price | Population Change | Home Price Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Avon-by-the-Sea | 2,030 | $1,891,688 | 12.7% | 6.2% |
| 2 | Ten Mile Run | 2,492 | $889,955 | 8.9% | 3.3% |
| 3 | Sussex | 2,145 | $445,448 | 7.0% | -0.6% |
| 4 | Laurel Springs | 2,044 | $335,130 | 0.9% | -1.7% |
| 5 | Holiday Heights | 2,121 | $424,677 | 0.1% | 1.0% |
| 6 | Manahawkin | 2,392 | $585,352 | 1.4% | 1.1% |
| 7 | Weston | 2,105 | $687,704 | -0.3% | -4.8% |
| 8 | Princeton Junction | 2,025 | $1,001,473 | 9.9% | -0.3% |
| 9 | Byram Center | 2,188 | $459,764 | 8.4% | -0.3% |
| 10 | Essex Fells | 2,361 | $1,438,414 | 1.8% | 2.7% |
| 11 | Alpha | 2,436 | $327,687 | 8.3% | -0.9% |
| 12 | Ogdensburg | 2,160 | $421,185 | -3.2% | 0.8% |
| 13 | New Egypt | 2,050 | $558,473 | 5.2% | 0.9% |
| 14 | North Beach Haven | 2,277 | $1,438,189 | -0.2% | 1.7% |
| 15 | Cranbury | 2,185 | $1,008,499 | -5.2% | -3.8% |
| 16 | Helmetta | 2,459 | $428,680 | 6.1% | -16.4% |
| 17 | Gibbsboro | 2,435 | $380,791 | 4.2% | -0.9% |
| 18 | Wenonah | 2,261 | $363,038 | 0.6% | 1.5% |
| 19 | Leonardo | 2,493 | $659,756 | 6.4% | 2.9% |
| 20 | Woodbine | 2,023 | $322,709 | -2.9% | -1.9% |
| 21 | Pine Beach | 2,306 | $560,327 | -3.0% | 0.5% |
| 22 | Brownville | 2,377 | $505,001 | 4.9% | 3.9% |
| 23 | Beverly | 2,514 | $281,667 | 1.0% | -0.6% |
| 24 | Vista Center | 2,133 | $688,581 | -4.6% | -9.5% |
| 25 | Whittingham | 2,480 | $525,051 | -1.4% | 2.9% |
| 26 | Waretown | 2,076 | $544,193 | 9.6% | 0.7% |
| 27 | Concordia | 2,611 | $410,392 | -4.1% | 4.2% |
| 28 | Pennington | 2,827 | $675,381 | 1.0% | 0.1% |
| 29 | West Belmar | 2,862 | $665,775 | 6.7% | 2.9% |
| 30 | Belvidere | 2,538 | $387,056 | 0.5% | -0.0% |
| 31 | Leisure Knoll | 2,668 | $393,099 | -2.1% | 12.1% |
| 32 | Peapack and Gladstone | 2,571 | $1,088,698 | 0.9% | -2.2% |
| 33 | Swedesboro | 2,733 | $476,701 | 0.5% | 1.3% |
| 34 | Whitesboro | 2,766 | $311,647 | -6.1% | -2.5% |
| 35 | Pine Ridge at Crestwood | 2,719 | $170,297 | -1.3% | -3.6% |
| 36 | East Newark | 2,497 | $589,335 | -1.3% | 60.8% |
| 37 | Pemberton Heights | 2,619 | $297,487 | -0.9% | -3.2% |
| 38 | North Middletown | 3,035 | $447,484 | -1.5% | 8.8% |
| 39 | Laurel Lake | 2,641 | $196,487 | 5.1% | 7.8% |
| 40 | Riverton | 2,770 | $461,356 | -0.0% | 1.0% |
| 41 | Clinton | 2,789 | $515,873 | 0.2% | -3.0% |
| 42 | Rossmoor | 3,350 | $243,478 | 6.8% | -0.2% |
| 43 | Lakehurst | 2,681 | $362,265 | 0.6% | -0.4% |
| 44 | Sewaren | 3,248 | $531,116 | 1.6% | 0.4% |
| 45 | Moonachie | 3,126 | $656,577 | 0.6% | 1.8% |
| 46 | Plainsboro Center | 2,773 | $605,626 | 3.4% | -3.3% |
| 47 | Middlebush | 2,049 | $629,184 | 1.6% | 0.2% |
| 48 | Rio Grande | 3,485 | $428,046 | 6.1% | 2.2% |
| 49 | Lawnside | 3,200 | $301,179 | 2.4% | -2.1% |
| 50 | Woodlynne | 2,920 | $196,635 | 0.7% | -4.3% |
| 51 | Seaside Heights | 2,478 | $711,847 | 24.4% | 2.8% |
| 52 | Spring Lake | 2,779 | $1,417,246 | -0.1% | 5.4% |
| 53 | Groveville | 3,100 | $508,260 | 3.1% | 10.7% |
| 54 | National Park | 3,044 | $270,494 | 0.0% | -1.0% |
| 55 | Woodbury Heights | 3,117 | $366,621 | 0.0% | 2.0% |
| 56 | Shark River Hills | 2,974 | $655,875 | -2.0% | 2.9% |
| 57 | Cliffwood Beach | 3,056 | $458,135 | 0.4% | 1.9% |
| 58 | Wildwood Crest | 3,077 | $740,460 | -0.5% | 6.5% |
| 59 | Hamburg | 3,308 | $395,522 | 0.5% | 0.4% |
| 60 | Ocean Grove | 3,092 | $990,079 | 6.0% | -1.9% |
| 61 | Netcong | 3,659 | $481,352 | 3.3% | 2.2% |
| 62 | Saddle River | 3,389 | $2,270,388 | 0.9% | 2.1% |
| 63 | Monmouth Beach | 3,207 | $1,107,170 | 0.2% | 1.8% |
| 64 | Leisuretowne | 3,564 | $303,874 | 9.9% | -2.9% |
| 65 | Stanhope | 3,552 | $438,948 | 0.0% | -0.2% |
| 66 | Turnersville | 3,136 | $464,902 | 2.1% | -0.1% |
| 67 | Tuckerton | 3,654 | $413,691 | 1.1% | 0.7% |
| 68 | Haworth | 3,363 | $1,191,256 | 1.3% | 2.9% |
| 69 | Six Mile Run | 2,882 | $602,368 | -9.5% | -7.8% |
| 70 | Wood | 3,715 | $299,743 | 0.7% | -2.0% |
| 71 | Cape May | 2,767 | $714,348 | -0.8% | 2.5% |
| 72 | High Bridge | 3,580 | $448,929 | -0.1% | 0.7% |
| 73 | Oakhurst | 3,538 | $1,007,290 | -7.2% | 3.0% |
| 74 | Gibbstown | 3,685 | $323,788 | 5.5% | -1.3% |
| 75 | Lawrenceville | 3,924 | $516,154 | -0.6% | -5.5% |
| 76 | Mullica Hill | 4,591 | $594,703 | 0.7% | 0.1% |
| 77 | Barnegat | 3,360 | $494,292 | -0.2% | 0.6% |
| 78 | Port Monmouth | 3,046 | $602,722 | -7.3% | 3.0% |
| 79 | South Toms River | 3,716 | $391,641 | 0.4% | 1.2% |
| 80 | Merchantville | 3,905 | $355,944 | 2.4% | 4.2% |
| 81 | Fairview | 3,892 | $654,535 | -1.5% | 1.2% |
| 82 | Leisure Village East | 4,247 | $291,848 | -1.4% | 4.5% |
| 83 | North Cape May | 3,731 | $492,846 | 4.3% | 15.3% |
| 84 | Leisure Village West | 3,969 | $278,941 | -2.5% | 3.7% |
| 85 | North Wildwood | 3,602 | $576,303 | -0.5% | -2.2% |
| 86 | Bordentown | 4,026 | $432,948 | 0.5% | 1.8% |
| 87 | Lambertville | 4,153 | $642,510 | 0.3% | 2.6% |
| 88 | White House Station | 3,963 | $569,411 | 5.5% | 1.2% |
| 89 | Panther Valley | 4,553 | $463,524 | -1.5% | -2.4% |
| 90 | Oaklyn | 3,947 | $342,692 | 0.3% | -2.8% |
| 91 | Medford Lakes | 4,297 | $538,427 | 0.7% | 0.6% |
| 92 | Richwood | 3,197 | $744,470 | -7.4% | -0.4% |
| 93 | Silver Lake CDP (Essex County) | 3,917 | $561,767 | -2.9% | -12.0% |
| 94 | Port Reading | 3,511 | $544,566 | -7.0% | 0.4% |
| 95 | Holiday City South | 4,270 | $334,203 | -0.6% | 3.6% |
| 96 | Oak Valley | 4,413 | $304,003 | 0.9% | 1.9% |
| 97 | Barclay | 4,607 | $584,198 | 3.4% | 1.0% |
| 98 | Singac | 4,207 | $535,577 | 5.5% | -2.5% |
| 99 | Egg Harbor City | 4,400 | $337,185 | 0.5% | -0.5% |
| 100 | Shrewsbury | 4,179 | $942,549 | 0.4% | 3.3% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024 via Saturday Night Science. 396 New Jersey cities cleared the filters.
Summary
Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In New Jersey for 2026
There’s our analysis of the best places to buy a house in New Jersey. And, to be clear, we aren’t necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.
In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 543 places in the state.
The best cities to buy a house in New Jersey are Avon-by-the-Sea, Ten Mile Run, Sussex, Laurel Springs, Holiday Heights, Manahawkin, Weston, Princeton Junction, Byram Center, and Essex Fells.
So if we could rent or buy in these cities, we’d definitely buy. Not sold on New Jersey? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Best Places To Buy A House In New Jersey FAQs
What is the best city in New Jersey to buy a house?
Avon-by-the-Sea is the best place to buy a house in New Jersey for 2026. Its population is growing, home values are rising, and the median home still costs $1,891,688. Ten Mile Run and Sussex are next on the list.
What are the best cities to buy a home in New Jersey?
The best cities to buy a house in New Jersey are Avon-by-the-Sea, Ten Mile Run, Sussex, Laurel Springs, Holiday Heights, Manahawkin, Weston, Princeton Junction, Byram Center, and Essex Fells. Only 396 of the 543 places in New Jersey cleared our filters on growth and home prices.
How much does a house cost in Avon-by-the-Sea?
The median home value in Avon-by-the-Sea is $1,891,688, versus $569,411 across New Jersey. Across the full top ten, the median home runs $636,528.
How do you pick the best places to buy a home in New Jersey?
We look for New Jersey places where the population is growing, home prices are climbing, and homes are still cheap relative to the state average, using Census American Community Survey data. Cities that hit all three get the highest Buy Index scores.
Is this a guarantee home values will go up?
No. This is not investment advice — just where the data points to potential value. The Buy Index says these markets look healthier than most of New Jersey, not that any single house is a good deal.
