Best Places07109, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 07109, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
07109 ranks 12,645th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 07109
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
07109's strengths and weaknesses
Where 07109 ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 07109 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,400 a month, better than only 9% of zip codes
- School gradeD+, better than only 11% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 07109
A household needs to earn about $131,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 07109 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $90,554, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 07109's effective rate of 2.48%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 07109
07109 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 07109.
Who works in 07109, and how
Work in 07109 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in 07109
The coast is about 25 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 07109, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 07109, month by month
07109 sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of 07109
Newark Liberty International sits about 7 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 23.5 million passengers in 2025, with 242 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 07109
Schools across 07109 average a D+, better than 11% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Belleville Ps10C · 30% proficient
- George Washington Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Belleville Ps9C− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Veterans Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Belleville Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- North Arlington High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Belleville High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 07109 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
07109 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 07109 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 07109 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 07109
Is 07109 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 07109 ranks 12,645th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on big-city access, walkability, and transit, and lowest on property taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 07109 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $407,074. The overall cost of living runs about 13% above the national average. Set against a $90,554 median income, cost of living beats 46% of zip codes.
Is 07109 safe?
07109 is safer than 33% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $264 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 07109?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 26. That works out to about 57 pleasant days a year, more than 4% of zip codes.
Is 07109 good for families?
Schools beat 11% of zip codes, crime safety beats 33%, and childcare runs $1,400 a month.
Compare 07109 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 07109. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 07109 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
07109 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 07109: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 07109: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 07109: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 07109: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
07109 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.