Best places to live in New Jersey

The 105 New Jersey cities and towns of 20,000+ where people are moving in, ranked on growth, commute times and cost, using Census data. Looking for the lowest prices instead? See the cheapest places to live in New Jersey.

By Sol Lakein, founder of Slower Sundays. Updated November 2026.

Barnegat Township#1 pickScore 70 of 100
HarrisonFastest growing+13.6% since 2020
PatersonShortest commute22.6 min average

The top 3 in New Jersey

#1Score 70
Barnegat Township
Growth
+7.6%
Home value
$399,000
Commute
28 min
#2Score 70
Harrison
Growth
+13.6%
Home value
$505,800
Commute
41 min
#3Score 69
Lakewood Township
Growth
+6.4%
Home value
$466,700
Commute
24 min

The 10 best places to live in New Jersey

Score out of 100. Values and rents are Census medians for each city or town.

#	Place	Score	Median home value	Median rent	Commute	Growth since 2020
1	Barnegat Township	70	$399,000	$1,752	27.8 min	+7.6%
2	Harrison	70	$505,800	$2,226	40.7 min	+13.6%
3	Lakewood Township	69	$466,700	$1,774	24.3 min	+6.4%
4	Cherry Hill Township	69	$386,300	$1,882	27.5 min	+7.2%
5	Rockaway Township	69	$466,500	$2,315	29.5 min	+9.3%
6	Mount Laurel Township	68	$357,200	$2,143	27.0 min	+7.0%
7	Stafford Township	67	$426,200	$1,800	31.4 min	+8.2%
8	New Brunswick	62	$353,800	$1,814	23.3 min	+3.4%
9	Evesham Township	62	$397,600	$2,046	27.8 min	+5.7%
10	Montclair Township	62	$906,400	$2,063	35.6 min	+11.5%

Every New Jersey city and town we ranked

See all 105, with scores

#	Place	Score	Median home value	Median rent	Commute	Growth since 2020	Population 2025
1	Barnegat Township	70	$399,000	$1,752	27.8 min	+7.6%	26,151
2	Harrison	70	$505,800	$2,226	40.7 min	+13.6%	22,105
3	Lakewood Township	69	$466,700	$1,774	24.3 min	+6.4%	143,765
4	Cherry Hill Township	69	$386,300	$1,882	27.5 min	+7.2%	79,965
5	Rockaway Township	69	$466,500	$2,315	29.5 min	+9.3%	27,728
6	Mount Laurel Township	68	$357,200	$2,143	27.0 min	+7.0%	47,738
7	Stafford Township	67	$426,200	$1,800	31.4 min	+8.2%	30,958
8	New Brunswick	62	$353,800	$1,814	23.3 min	+3.4%	57,133
9	Evesham Township	62	$397,600	$2,046	27.8 min	+5.7%	49,525
10	Montclair Township	62	$906,400	$2,063	35.6 min	+11.5%	44,633
11	Raritan Township	62	$564,300	$1,615	33.5 min	+7.8%	25,281
12	Toms River Township	61	$416,700	$1,726	30.2 min	+5.7%	100,899
13	Brick Township	61	$410,600	$1,756	28.2 min	+5.1%	77,402
14	Union Township	61	$451,300	$2,064	30.4 min	+6.6%	63,675
15	Montville Township	60	$700,200	$2,372	32.6 min	+9.0%	24,469
16	Perth Amboy	59	$370,600	$1,688	23.5 min	+2.3%	56,739
17	West Windsor Township	59	$776,400	$2,327	38.6 min	+11.4%	32,839
18	Paterson	58	$360,100	$1,548	22.6 min	+1.3%	161,793
19	Plainfield	58	$410,800	$1,767	29.5 min	+4.7%	57,141
20	Bloomfield Township	58	$470,800	$1,824	32.4 min	+6.2%	56,375
21	Lacey Township	58	$409,400	$1,971	31.8 min	+5.7%	30,297
22	Burlington Township	58	$361,100	$1,326	30.0 min	+3.8%	24,893
23	Elizabeth	57	$449,300	$1,523	26.7 min	+3.2%	141,675
24	Fair Lawn	57	$564,700	$1,917	31.3 min	+6.3%	37,128
25	Long Branch	56	$574,000	$1,876	29.6 min	+5.3%	33,321
26	Rahway	56	$386,400	$1,845	31.9 min	+4.9%	31,010
27	Moorestown Township	56	$697,200	$1,718	25.7 min	+4.2%	22,262
28	Newark	55	$373,700	$1,392	32.6 min	+4.0%	323,808
29	Linden	55	$419,700	$1,731	31.5 min	+4.6%	45,752
30	Little Egg Harbor Township	55	$351,500	$1,823	33.1 min	+4.9%	21,801
31	Hawthorne	55	$533,700	$1,830	24.6 min	+2.7%	20,169
32	City of Orange Township	54	$365,500	$1,550	32.0 min	+3.6%	35,642
33	Passaic	53	$429,900	$1,465	25.3 min	+1.1%	71,337
34	East Windsor Township	53	$397,400	$1,626	26.8 min	+1.7%	30,562
35	Morristown	53	$567,600	$2,274	23.9 min	+2.8%	20,750
36	Old Bridge Township	52	$461,000	$1,538	36.1 min	+5.0%	70,228
37	Piscataway Township	52	$449,900	$2,024	26.1 min	+2.4%	62,253
38	Jackson Township	52	$485,700	$1,908	32.8 min	+4.6%	61,281
39	Lawrence Township	52	$439,700	$2,020	28.7 min	+3.3%	34,165
40	Medford Township	52	$514,800	$1,589	33.9 min	+4.6%	25,612
41	Bayonne	51	$460,100	$1,682	33.7 min	+4.3%	74,744
42	Sayreville	51	$444,100	$1,711	30.8 min	+3.1%	46,787
43	Garfield	51	$475,500	$1,688	28.0 min	+2.1%	33,353
44	Hazlet Township	51	$465,900	$1,400	32.2 min	+3.1%	20,743
45	East Orange	50	$365,900	$1,441	35.4 min	+3.6%	72,159
46	North Brunswick Township	50	$431,500	$2,117	29.2 min	+2.8%	45,097
47	Teaneck Township	50	$546,100	$1,832	34.4 min	+5.0%	43,329
48	Hillside Township	49	$397,400	$1,794	29.7 min	+1.9%	22,860
49	Clifton	48	$461,900	$1,711	28.3 min	+1.4%	91,127
50	Ocean Township	48	$678,300	$1,530	26.0 min	+1.5%	28,088
51	Roselle	48	$379,900	$1,567	33.1 min	+2.5%	23,261
52	South Plainfield	47	$470,900	$2,107	29.7 min	+2.3%	24,891
53	Parsippany-Troy Hills Township	46	$536,200	$1,736	27.6 min	+0.9%	56,633
54	Belleville Township	46	$421,000	$1,639	32.4 min	+1.9%	38,997
55	Voorhees Township	46	$429,700	$1,754	30.4 min	+1.6%	31,571
56	Mount Olive Township	46	$487,100	$1,697	31.7 min	+2.1%	29,503
57	Neptune Township	46	$455,900	$1,876	26.1 min	+0.4%	28,273
58	Howell Township	45	$507,200	$2,280	31.9 min	+3.2%	55,156
59	Hackensack	45	$393,700	$1,911	28.9 min	+0.8%	46,380
60	Hillsborough Township	45	$547,600	$2,396	33.3 min	+4.1%	45,061
61	Nutley Township	45	$516,300	$1,767	30.9 min	+2.0%	30,744
62	Englewood	45	$544,100	$1,977	30.9 min	+2.5%	30,035
63	Carteret	45	$405,800	$2,032	31.4 min	+1.8%	25,781
64	Sparta Township	45	$484,200	$1,864	37.5 min	+4.3%	20,431
65	Elmwood Park	44	$483,700	$2,074	27.1 min	+0.6%	21,534
66	Bergenfield	43	$491,500	$1,752	32.3 min	+1.5%	28,754
67	Morris Township	43	$765,100	$2,437	29.2 min	+3.2%	23,730
68	Roxbury Township	43	$465,700	$1,983	33.2 min	+2.1%	23,427
69	Freehold Township	42	$553,600	$2,194	30.9 min	+1.9%	36,052
70	Randolph Township	42	$670,700	$1,808	30.3 min	+1.6%	26,878
71	Wall Township	42	$720,400	$1,762	26.8 min	+0.7%	26,753
72	Cliffside Park	42	$588,200	$1,837	35.5 min	+3.2%	26,539
73	North Plainfield	42	$374,700	$1,752	31.4 min	+0.3%	22,879
74	Cranford Township	41	$660,100	$2,199	34.5 min	+3.7%	24,725
75	Jersey City	40	$566,900	$2,007	36.8 min	+3.2%	302,013
76	Edison Township	40	$496,900	$1,974	33.9 min	+1.6%	109,077
77	Woodbridge Township	40	$433,000	$1,959	32.5 min	+0.9%	104,802
78	Princeton	40	$1,050,600	$2,636	24.2 min	+2.5%	31,469
79	Mahwah Township	40	$606,000	$2,204	28.2 min	+0.8%	25,678
80	Secaucus	39	$571,900	$2,391	32.5 min	+2.0%	22,640
81	Franklin Township	38	$457,900	$2,115	33.5 min	+1.1%	69,105
82	West New York	38	$465,600	$1,716	34.5 min	+0.7%	53,192
83	West Orange Township	38	$557,300	$1,897	34.4 min	+1.5%	49,557
84	East Brunswick Township	37	$521,900	$2,045	36.5 min	+2.0%	50,678
85	Bridgewater Township	37	$605,500	$2,176	31.4 min	+1.0%	46,455
86	Jefferson Township	37	$428,200	$1,480	37.3 min	+0.8%	20,703
87	Westfield	36	$953,400	$2,357	36.7 min	+5.0%	32,595
88	Bernards Township	36	$814,800	$2,476	32.5 min	+2.7%	28,594
89	Scotch Plains Township	36	$718,200	$2,060	33.7 min	+1.9%	25,437
90	South Brunswick Township	35	$582,700	$1,935	34.4 min	+0.9%	47,454
91	West Milford Township	35	$399,700	$1,737	39.8 min	+1.4%	25,216
92	Plainsboro Township	35	$683,100	$2,037	32.5 min	+1.0%	24,349
93	Middletown Township	34	$608,300	$1,532	34.9 min	+0.1%	67,135
94	Fort Lee	34	$448,000	$2,270	35.0 min	+0.4%	40,345
95	Palisades Park	34	$719,600	$2,009	30.7 min	+0.1%	20,317
96	Monroe Township (Middlesex County)	33	$540,900	$2,031	40.3 min	+2.4%	49,830
97	Maplewood Township	31	$720,700	$2,269	38.5 min	+2.5%	26,320
98	Summit	31	$994,500	$2,430	33.5 min	+2.6%	23,314
99	Ridgewood	30	$891,200	$2,499	34.6 min	+2.1%	26,527
100	Montgomery Township	28	$795,200	$2,188	37.1 min	+1.5%	24,039
101	Livingston Township	27	$821,100	$2,949	37.6 min	+2.7%	32,223
102	Paramus	26	$813,900	$3,032	30.8 min	+0.1%	26,723
103	Millburn Township	24	$1,371,500	$2,262	41.9 min	+5.4%	22,874
104	Marlboro Township	23	$701,200	$2,699	41.2 min	+1.6%	42,254
105	Manalapan Township	22	$655,500	$1,960	43.2 min	+0.6%	40,987

How we ranked them

This list is about where people are moving. Each growing place is scored against the others in the state on four Census measures, then weighted. Nothing about who lives in a place goes in.

Who makes the list: places that grew from 2020 to 2025 and whose median home value is at least 75% of the state's typical place ($345,075 in New Jersey). Of 141 places, 9 lost population and 27 sit below that line, so they are left off this list. They are all on the cheapest places in New Jersey page. Population growth counts births as well as moves.

Weight	Measure
45%	Population growth, 2020 to 2025
25%	Shorter commutes (mean travel time to work)
20%	Lower home values (median value of owner-occupied homes)
10%	Lower rent (median gross rent)

Places are incorporated cities and towns with at least 20,000 residents in July 2025, plus townships of that size, because many large New Jersey municipalities are townships. Unincorporated communities are left out because the Census population estimates do not cover them. Census reports home values of $2 million or more as $2,000,000+ and rents of $3,500 or more as $3,500+. A place with no figure on a measure gets half points on it. Home values are what owners estimate their homes are worth, averaged over 2020 to 2024, so they run below today's listing prices.

Statewide, New Jersey has a top income tax rate of 10.75%, an effective property tax rate of 1.82% and a combined sales tax of 6.60%, and it does not tax Social Security. See property taxes by state and states with no income tax.

Weigh things differently? The quiz ranks cities on your own priorities.

Questions people ask

What is the best place to live in New Jersey?

On our ranking of the 105 growing New Jersey cities and towns with 20,000 or more people, Barnegat Township, followed by Harrison and Lakewood Township. Barnegat Township has a median home value of $399,000, median rent of $1,752, an average commute of 27.8 min and grew +7.6% from 2020 to 2025 (US Census Bureau).

What is the fastest-growing city in New Jersey?

Of the places we rank, Harrison, up +13.6% from the 2020 base to July 2025 (US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).

Where in New Jersey are commutes shortest?

Paterson, where the average trip to work takes 22.6 min (American Community Survey 2020-2024).

Do you rank places by who lives there?

No. The ranking uses population growth, commute times, home values and rent only. Nothing about who lives in a place goes in.

Why isn't the cheapest town in New Jersey on this list?

This list ranks the places people are moving to. Places that lost population from 2020 to 2025, or whose median home value is below 75% of the state's typical place, are left off. Every place is on our cheapest places to live in New Jersey page.

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