These Are The 10 Best Suburbs In New Jersey For 2018


We used science and data to determine the best suburbs in New Jersey for you to live.

Chris Kolmar, About HomeSnacks
February 21, 2018
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Are you sick of being a city slicker?

Do you long for life in suburban New Jersey? Where you can drive your overly-large vehicle to the store for groceries, and schlep the kids around to practices and appointments without worrying about a parking space?

We do too.

Public transportation is…icky at times. When you have to call an Uber to get to urgent care on a Friday night, that gets old after a while.

So, the question is, if you wanted to move out to the suburbs of Trenton, where would you go? And how would you decide on the ranking factors to help you pick which New Jersey suburb was best?

No worries. We got it all figured out here.

These are the 10 best suburbs in the Garden State:

  1. North Caldwell (Photos)
  2. Woodcliff Lake (Photos)
  3. Haddonfield (Photos)
  4. Oradell (Photos)
  5. Demarest (Photos)
  6. Glen Rock (Photos)
  7. Fair Haven (Photos)
  8. New Providence (Photos)
  9. Chatham (Photos)
  10. Westfield (Photos)

North Caldwell is the place to be when it comes to being a soccer mom in suburban New Jersey.

So if you’re thinking of packing up your mini van and making a move to a quiet place to live in New Jersey, we’ve got you covered.

Keep on reading for a detailed methodology. Or, check out the best places to live in New Jersey and the best places to raise a family in New Jersey.

How do you determine which suburb is the best in New Jersey anyways?

To give you the best suburbs in New Jersey, we have to look at a handful of metrics. Of course, we want to measure the type of people who live in each city, and make some assumptions about what’s a “best city” and what isn’t.

So we researched the internet for a database that contains all that information.

10 Most Dangerous Cities In New Jersey

How we crunched the suburb numbers for the Garden State

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using U.S. Census data produced for the state of New Jersey, we looked at every town between 5,000 and 200,000 residents, and within 30 miles of a city that’s over 200,000 people (In other words, suburbs).

We paid particular attention to:

  • Median Home Values
  • Median Income
  • Population Density (Higher is Better)
  • Unemployment Rates
  • Commute Time
  • Education Levels
  • Health Insurance Coverage
  • Poverty Rates

We ranked each suburb in New Jersey across a number of criteria from one to 158, with one being the best.

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

The result is some of the safest, quiet, and awesome places to live in New Jersey

Read on to see why North Caldwell is the ‘burb with the most, while Lindenwold is probably not the best place to live in New Jersey.

1. North Caldwell

North Caldwell, Nj

Source: Wikipedia User EdZa | CC BY-SA 2.0

Population: 6,519
Median Income: $188,897
Median Home Price: $713,500
North Caldwell is located 10 miles north of Newark.

2. Woodcliff Lake

Woodcliff Lake, Nj

Source: Wikipedia User JERRYE & ROY KL | CC BY-SA 4.0

Population: 5,844
Median Income: $150,862
Median Home Price: $756,100
Woodcliff Lake is located 21 miles north of Newark.

3. Haddonfield

Haddonfield, Nj

Source: Public domain

Population: 11,444
Median Income: $135,700
Median Home Price: $487,700
Haddonfield is located 9 miles south of Philadelphia.

These Are The 10 Best Places To Live In America

4. Oradell

Oradell, Nj

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL

Population: 8,160
Median Income: $145,761
Median Home Price: $560,100
Oradell is located 17 miles north of Newark.

5. Demarest

Demarest, Nj

Source: Wikipedia User JERRYE & ROY KL | CC BY-SA 4.0

Population: 5,007
Median Income: $150,139
Median Home Price: $652,800
Demarest is located 19 miles north of Newark.

6. Glen Rock

Glen Rock, Nj

Source: Wikipedia User AEMoreira042281 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 11,887
Median Income: $159,247
Median Home Price: $610,600
Glen Rock is located 16 miles north of Newark.

Best Cities To Raise A Family In America

7. Fair Haven

Fair Haven, Nj

Source: Wikipedia User Apc106 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 6,033
Median Income: $161,131
Median Home Price: $664,500
Fair Haven is located 21 miles south of New York.

8. New Providence

New Providence, Nj

Source: Public domain

Population: 12,434
Median Income: $139,375
Median Home Price: $576,000
New Providence is located 12 miles west of Newark.

9. Chatham

Chatham, Nj

Source: Public domain

Population: 9,030
Median Income: $150,625
Median Home Price: $729,000
Chatham is located 11 miles west of Newark.

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10. Westfield

Westfield, Nj

Source: Wikipedia User Jared Kofsky/Pl | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 30,438
Median Income: $150,486
Median Home Price: $689,400
Westfield is located 10 miles west of Newark.

There You Have It – The Best Suburbs In New Jersey

Here’s a look at the worst suburbs in New Jersey according to the data:

  1. Lindenwold
  2. Pine Hill
  3. East Orange

For more New Jersey reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Suburbs In New Jersey

City Rank Population Median Income Median Home Price
North Caldwell 1 6,519 $188,897 $713,500
Woodcliff Lake 2 5,844 $150,862 $756,100
Haddonfield 3 11,444 $135,700 $487,700
Oradell 4 8,160 $145,761 $560,100
Demarest 5 5,007 $150,139 $652,800
Glen Rock 6 11,887 $159,247 $610,600
Fair Haven 7 6,033 $161,131 $664,500
New Providence 8 12,434 $139,375 $576,000
Chatham 9 9,030 $150,625 $729,000
Westfield 10 30,438 $150,486 $689,400
Mendham 11 5,012 $138,241 $621,100
Madison 12 16,090 $120,608 $681,900
Waldwick 13 9,922 $110,089 $428,600
Mountainside 14 6,835 $122,500 $622,000
Upper Saddle River 15 8,301 $171,747 $905,100
Rumson 16 6,878 $135,089 $956,600
Norwood 17 5,828 $112,031 $610,000
Bernardsville 18 7,776 $136,563 $671,200
Cresskill 19 8,745 $117,164 $540,700
Little Silver 20 5,922 $137,652 $608,300
Franklin Lakes 21 10,810 $160,000 $944,900
Allendale 22 6,767 $151,641 $680,000
Englewood Cliffs 23 5,405 $131,936 $984,700
Midland Park 24 7,283 $99,436 $456,000
Ridgewood 25 25,430 $144,734 $724,400
Hillsdale 26 10,454 $118,138 $515,800
Park Ridge 27 8,854 $103,700 $533,500
Dumont 28 17,788 $96,395 $358,300
Fanwood 29 7,530 $119,383 $422,700
Tenafly 30 14,821 $144,353 $750,800
River Edge 31 11,586 $111,250 $470,100
Roseland 32 5,875 $96,250 $477,200
Morris Plains 33 5,612 $123,263 $474,900
Closter 34 8,650 $128,674 $637,200
Wood-Ridge 35 8,109 $100,169 $383,600
Ramsey 36 15,000 $133,702 $559,900
Old Tappan 37 5,942 $133,750 $740,400
Oakland 38 13,041 $112,917 $438,500
Kinnelon 39 10,239 $133,000 $535,400
Westwood 40 11,170 $89,817 $437,800
Summit 41 21,895 $136,491 $822,000
Florham Park 42 11,787 $116,528 $606,700
Metuchen 43 13,791 $112,561 $393,500
Glen Ridge 44 7,615 $170,839 $593,300
Caldwell 45 7,967 $75,583 $423,100
North Haledon 46 8,490 $100,724 $436,000
Maywood 47 9,726 $86,155 $373,500
Haddon Heights 48 7,506 $86,676 $280,100
Watchung 49 5,944 $126,250 $752,700
Lincoln Park 50 10,488 $83,750 $334,100
Ringwood 51 12,398 $114,458 $348,900
Fair Lawn 52 33,205 $102,716 $396,800
Montvale 53 8,285 $111,436 $600,500
Highland Park 54 14,245 $67,829 $353,000
New Milford 55 16,682 $80,709 $394,200
Edgewater 56 11,998 $102,355 $533,700
Hasbrouck Heights 57 12,124 $82,870 $400,700
Rockaway 58 6,472 $79,602 $336,600
Bergenfield 59 27,513 $81,042 $332,700
Hoboken 60 53,136 $118,479 $621,300
Rutherford 61 18,480 $87,587 $435,100
Emerson 62 7,621 $109,613 $465,000
Hawthorne 63 18,950 $89,472 $368,300
Boonton 64 8,405 $90,082 $367,900
Leonia 65 9,137 $88,401 $473,200
Mount Arlington 66 5,251 $85,282 $289,300
West Long Branch 67 7,947 $85,640 $393,900
Matawan 68 8,894 $83,146 $316,100
Kenilworth 69 8,129 $101,250 $346,100
Audubon 70 8,748 $77,066 $210,900
Oceanport 71 5,763 $106,648 $447,700
Ridgefield 72 11,294 $70,461 $457,200
Paramus 73 26,795 $101,793 $565,300
Pitman 74 8,916 $72,633 $188,300
Bogota 75 8,348 $78,059 $313,400
Raritan 76 7,539 $72,981 $334,900
Pompton Lakes 77 11,163 $91,604 $294,800
Spotswood 78 8,418 $74,668 $286,100
Butler 79 7,773 $96,647 $345,100
Elmwood Park 80 20,135 $73,837 $346,500
Dunellen 81 7,355 $76,333 $285,200
Fort Lee 82 36,607 $75,449 $326,500
Woodland Park 83 12,358 $70,473 $371,000
North Arlington 84 15,788 $76,698 $348,500
Wallington 85 11,618 $57,813 $359,700
Wanaque 86 11,636 $81,267 $295,900
Collingswood 87 13,925 $62,524 $257,900
Palisades Park 88 20,499 $63,266 $506,000
Tinton Falls 89 17,910 $75,584 $300,300
Somerville 90 12,207 $68,393 $286,200
Roselle Park 91 13,560 $66,168 $269,300
Totowa 92 10,900 $96,573 $369,600
Barrington 93 6,831 $68,167 $204,700
East Rutherford 94 9,236 $76,771 $383,300
South Amboy 95 8,762 $66,294 $277,600
Middlesex 96 13,811 $82,663 $302,800
Ridgefield Park 97 12,976 $64,980 $324,300
Secaucus 98 18,737 $94,160 $399,300
Carlstadt 99 6,238 $84,268 $386,200
Clifton 100 85,578 $71,830 $330,300

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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