Niche ranked 637 New Jersey communities for 2026. Here are the top 20, with school grades, population, and homeownership for each.
Niche, the site that grades schools and neighborhoods across the country, released its 2026 rankings earlier this year, and 637 of the places it graded are in New Jersey. The top of the list looks a lot like you’d expect if you’ve ever priced a house near a good train line. Expensive, close to Manhattan or Philadelphia, and heavy on school districts people move specifically to get into.
There are some surprises. A town in Hudson County cracked the top 10. A borough most people outside Bergen County couldn’t find without GPS came in second. And South Jersey came in a little light. The biggest surprise for us was seeing Secaucus make this list, that’s one you might want to take with a grain of salt.
How the Rankings Work
It isn’t median income and it isn’t vibes. Niche pulls federal data, state data, FBI stuff, and resident reviews, then standardizes everything so a borough of 1,500 can be compared fairly against a city of 60,000.
Cost of living and the share of adults with a bachelor’s degree count the most, at 12.5 percent each. Housing and public schools follow at 10 percent apiece, then diversity at 7.5. Crime, family-friendliness, health and fitness, jobs, nightlife, outdoor activities, walkability, and weather each get 5 percent, as do resident reviews. Commute time rounds it out at 2.5.
This year’s formula also changed how amenities are measured. Niche swapped older federal business data for mapping data from OpenStreetMap, which gives a sharper read on what’s actually within walking distance, parks, gyms, bars. That shift probably helped the walkable towns on this list more than anyone. See the full list and methodology of best palces to live here.
The Top 20 Best Places to Live in New Jersey
| Rank | Town | County | Schools | Population | Own / Rent | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Princeton Junction | Mercer | A+ | 2,025 | 84% / 16% | No. 1 place to raise a family in NJ |
| 2 | Harrington Park | Bergen | A+ | 4,954 | 92% / 8% | No. 1 suburb to live in, No. 1 place to retire in NJ |
| 3 | Princeton | Mercer | A+ | 30,756 | 58% / 42% | No. 4 public schools in NJ |
| 4 | Mountain Lakes | Morris | A+ | 4,585 | 96% / 4% | No. 1 suburb to raise a family in NJ |
| 5 | Fanwood | Union | A | 7,799 | 85% / 15% | No. 3 suburb to live in NJ |
| 6 | Hoboken | Hudson | A | 58,668 | 34% / 66% | No. 1 suburb for young professionals in NJ |
| 7 | Glen Ridge | Essex | A | 7,943 | 85% / 15% | No. 3 suburb to buy a house in NJ |
| 8 | Ridgewood | Bergen | A+ | 26,308 | 79% / 21% | No. 2 place to live in Bergen County |
| 9 | Haworth | Bergen | A+ | 3,363 | 91% / 9% | No. 3 place to live in Bergen County |
| 10 | Metuchen | Middlesex | A+ | 15,144 | 78% / 22% | Top-ranked borough in Middlesex County |
| 11 | Plainsboro Center | Middlesex | A+ | 2,773 | 54% / 46% | Top diversity grade in Middlesex County |
| 12 | Closter | Bergen | A+ | 8,606 | 84% / 16% | No. 8 suburb to raise a family in NJ |
| 13 | Glen Rock | Bergen | A | 12,154 | 88% / 12% | No. 10 suburb to live in NJ |
| 14 | River Edge | Bergen | A+ | 12,091 | 80% / 20% | No. 6 place to live in Bergen County |
| 15 | Haddonfield | Camden | A | 12,595 | 83% / 17% | No. 1 place to live in Camden County |
| 16 | Highland Park | Middlesex | A- | 15,121 | 41% / 59% | No. 7 place for young professionals in NJ |
| 17 | New Providence | Union | A+ | 13,727 | 77% / 23% | Top 5 place to live in Union County |
| 18 | Secaucus | Hudson | A- | 21,778 | 59% / 41% | No. 2 place to live in Hudson County |
| 19 | Chatham | Morris | A+ | 9,407 | 84% / 16% | No. 10 place to raise a family in NJ |
| 20 | Ho-Ho-Kus | Bergen | B+ | 4,270 | 89% / 11% | No. 7 place to live in Bergen County |
Bergen County Owns This List
Seven of the top 20 are in Bergen County: Harrington Park, Ridgewood, Haworth, Closter, Glen Rock, River Edge, and Ho-Ho-Kus. Middlesex has three. Mercer, Morris, Union, and Hudson have two each. Essex and Camden have one apiece.
The reasons line up with how the rankings are scored. Bergen has well-funded public school districts, low crime, and decades of settled suburban infrastructure. It also has a lot of small boroughs, and small boroughs with good schools tend to do well in a ranking that weights schools and education this much. A county split into 70 municipalities simply has more chances to place towns on a list like this than one that’s mostly large townships.
Ho-Ho-Kus is the interesting case. It’s the only town in the top 20 without an A-range school grade, a B+, and it made the list anyway on safety and housing stability.
Renters Made the List Too
Most of the top 20 are overwhelmingly owner-occupied, Mountain Lakes at 96 percent, Harrington Park at 92. But three towns flip that. Hoboken is 66 percent renters, Highland Park 59, Plainsboro Center 46. All three scored well on walkability, diversity, or affordability, which is a reminder that the formula isn’t only rewarding big lawns.
The Train Line Matters More Than You Think
Look at the top 10 again. Princeton Junction, Fanwood, Glen Ridge, and Metuchen all sit on rail lines that get you into a major city, and several more on the list do too. Commute time only counts for 2.5 percent on its own, but transit access feeds into jobs and walkability scores too, so a station downtown helps a town in several places at once.
Where Your Town Landed
Niche graded 637 communities in New Jersey, so if your town didn’t make the top 20, it’s somewhere in there. Every town has its own grade breakdown on Niche’s site, which is either validating or very irritating depending on where you live.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.
