The 10 Best Places To Live In New Jersey For 2022

The 10 Best Places To Live In New Jersey For 2022

Coming in as the best place to live in New Jersey is Park Ridge, a borough of 8,721 located about a half-hour north of Newark.

For starters, Park Ridge ranked as one of the safest places in New Jersey, recording the 2nd lowest overall crime rate statewide — the crime rate in Park Ridge is nearly half the national average.

It’s not just safe streets, though. Park Ridge has some of the best schools in New Jersey, with their elementary school scoring in the top 5% statewide and their high school receiving a College Success Award from GreatSchools.

Education has undoubtedly played a key role in reducing poverty and unemployment numbers to incredibly low levels. In fact, the median household income in Park Ridge is $143,103, and the median home price here is $604,500.

If you’re looking for fun things to do locally, the Wortendyke Dutch Barn Museum provides a unique historical perspective on Bergen County’s roots. And having Newark down the road helps meet your entertainment needs as well. After all, you can always catch a New Jersey Devils’ game or a concert at the Prudential Center.

It’s not hard to stop and smell the roses in Roseland, our 2nd best place to live in New Jersey. New Jersey Monthly frequently lists Roseland as one of the top spots in New Jersey, so we’re not alone in handing out hosannas here. At 44, Roseland is the oldest place on this list, so those seeking a mature and balanced lifestyle will find plenty to love here.

A word to the wise, though: if you’re a diehard member of the Grand Old Party, Roseland might not smell so sweet to you. With over 75% of residents as registered Democrats, Roseland is among the most liberal places in New Jersey. But hey, living in the place with the 12th highest rate of health insurance coverage and 13th lowest unemployment in New Jersey might help overlook your political differences.

A nice feature of living in Roseland is its proximity to Newark. In just twenty minutes you can be snapping photos of the cherry blossoms at Branch Brook Park or losing your voice shouting at an event at the Prudential Center, depending on your inclination.

Fair Haven is a Monmouth County borough of 5,833 and ranks as the 5th best place to live in New Jersey. Whether you’re after a heady meal complete with live jazz or piano music at Raven & the Peach or looking for outdoors serenity at the nearby Hartshorne Woods Park, Fair Haven has you covered.

As for being family-friendly, 50.45% of Fair Haven’s households have kids, so you know that people consider it an excellent place to raise children. The statistics actually prove the truth of that, considering that GreatSchools gave Fair Haven an average score of 9/10 for its public schools, and test scores here are in the top 5% statewide.

If you don’t want to embarrass yourself at a pub quiz night in Fair Haven, you’d better get studying because 76% of adults are highly educated here (including an incredible 30% of adults with master’s degrees or higher). Additionally, 97.9% of residents have health insurance in Fair Haven, the 2highest rate in New Jersey.

But you won’t need that insurance for any crime-induced injuries. Fair Haven had the 5th lowest total crime rate over 2020.

Glen Rock is a borough of 11,747 located about 5 miles northeast of Paterson. We named Glen Rock one of the best places to raise a family in New Jersey, and a lot of those same factors land Glen Rock in the #7 spot on this list. Like having a GreatSchools rating of 8/10 for local public schools, including a college success award-winning high school. And the proximity of family friendly activities like the Paterson Great Falls.

At 38, Glen Rock has the youngest median age on this list, so if living in a hip, vibrant place is a priority for you, this might be your top choice. And these young-uns have the crime situation well under control, because the crime rate is about 80% lower than the national average, and ranks as the 24th lowest in New Jersey.

We’re sticking around Bergen County for our 8th best place to live in New Jersey, Waldwick. At $462,200, homes in Waldwick are some of the cheapest you’ll find on this list. Residents still enjoy a high median household income of $127,574/year, which helps give Waldwick the second lowest cost of living among the cities we’re covering here. And an unemployment rate of 2.4% is the 9th lowest in New Jersey. Just 2.3% of folks in Waldwick are on food stamps, so you know the economy is working just fine here without government assistance.

Low crime numbers and solid scores in education also make Waldwick an attractive place to live. Fans of railroad history will also be interested in visiting the Waldwick Museum.

There are a number of reasons why the affluent NYC suburb of North Caldwell is the 9th best place to live in New Jersey. For starters, the crime rate in North Caldwell is roughly 90% lower than the national average and ranks as the 2lowest within New Jersey.

One of the factors that helps keeps North Caldwell so safe is the high standard of living residents enjoy. For example, both the poverty level and unemployment rate in North Caldwell are below 2%. And with 99.7% of people having some form of health insurance, North Caldwell ranks as the most insured place in New Jersey.

It’s important to note that the good life North Caldwell offers doesn’t come cheap. It was named the richest place in New Jersey after all. The median home price is steep at $739,500, but residents also earn the 7th highest median household income in the state at $188,750/year. If you’re into (fictional) mobster lore, Tony Soprano’s house is in North Caldwell and, as of last summer, was up for sale.

Located just west of Newark, Westfield is a town of 29,690, making it the biggest place on this list. Downtown Westfield is a regional destination with plenty of shopping, restaurants, and nightlife, so this just might be the most exciting place to live among the places we’re covering here.

Roughly 75% of Westfield residents have at least a bachelor’s degree, so you know people take education seriously here. That dedication to learning has translated into a number of economic successes. Like having the 16th highest median household income in the state at $158,323/year. Or having a poverty level of just 2.4% and the 17th highest percentage of residents with health insurance in the state, 98.1%. And with a perfect 10/10 SnackAbility score for education, you’d better believe that Westfield’s up-and-coming generation is set up nicely to continue the community’s tradition of excellence.

And since my wife grew up here, I think it’s pretty great.

Methodology: How We Calculated The Best Cities To Live In New Jersey

Now that we had our set of cities, it was time to rank them.

We ranked each place in New Jersey across a number of criteria from one to 174, with one being the best.

We then took the average rank across all criteria, with the city posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title “Best Place To Live In New Jersey”.

The criteria we looked at were:

• Median Home Values
• Median Income
• Population Density (Higher better)
• Unemployment Rate
• Commute Time
• Crime
• Education Levels
• Health Insurance Coverage
• Poverty rates

Sources of criteria include the New Census Data and FBI Crime Data. You can download the data here.

After the dust settled, what was the best place to live in New Jersey? That would be Park Ridge.

If your city or town isn’t among the top 10, jump down to the bottom of the post to see a detailed chart of the best places in New Jersey.

Otherwise, buckle up for a ride down good living lane with Park Ridge at the end of the cul-de-sac.