Best Places08002, NJ Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 08002, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.

See the map of best neighborhoods

08002 ranks 8,762nd 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.

#8,762
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
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The best neighborhoods in 08002

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 08002 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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.

08002's strengths and weaknesses

Top 5%Big-city access
Top 10%Transit
Top 10%Walkability
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 08002 with other zip codes.

Where 08002 ranks high

  • Big-city accessBetter than 96% of zip codes
  • TransitBetter than 92% of zip codes
  • WalkabilityBetter than 90% of zip codes
  • Health outlookBetter than 87% of zip codes
  • BikingBetter than 87% of zip codes

Where 08002 ranks low

  • Low property taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
  • State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of zip codes
  • Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of zip codes
  • Cheap childcare$1,338 a month, better than only 12% of zip codes
  • Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 08002

A household needs to earn about $109,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 08002 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $101,480; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.

Income to buy the median home
$109,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$2,536
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $335,400 home
Median rent
$1,798
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$1,710
Property tax$714
Homeowners insurance$112

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 08002's effective rate of 2.56%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.

Renting versus buying

At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 08002

08002's age mix sits close to the national median.

Median age
41
about the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
22%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.5
near the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1819%
18 to 3424%
35 to 4919%
50 to 6417%
65 and older22%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 08002.


Who works in 08002, and how

Work in 08002 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.

Work from home
24%
above the national average
Unemployment
5.7%
above the national average
Job growth
+0.4%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Health care & social17%
Professional & technical13%
Retail trade11%
Other services7%
Manufacturing7%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 69%
  • Work from home 24%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 7%

Life in 08002

08002 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 84% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 08002 and thins out in others, which the map shows.

Places to eat and drink
256
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 107.6 per 10,000 residents, more than 89% of zip codes
Coffee shops
30
about 12.6 per 10,000 residents, more than 87% of zip codes
Parkland
186 acres
about 7.8 acres per 1,000 residents, more than 84% of zip codes
Open past 10pm
~47
food and drink venues open late, about 19.7 per 10,000 residents, more than 90% of zip codes

What the weather is like in 08002, month by month

08002 sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January45°35°25°
April67°54°42°
July90°78°67°
October71°59°47°

Flying in and out of 08002

Philadelphia International sits about 12 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 14.8 million passengers in 2025, with 179 nonstop destinations.

Nearest airport
PHL
Philadelphia International, about 12 miles
Airport size
Large hub
21st-busiest in the US, 179 nonstop destinations
Average drive
18 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 08002

Schools across 08002 average a C−, better than 19% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 08002 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


08002 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 08002 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Who 08002 suits

Families

Schools land around the 19th percentile.

See the families priority ↑

Remote workers

Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 24% already work from home.

See the remote-work priority ↑

Retirees

Health care access beats 68%.

See the retirees priority ↑


Common questions about living in 08002

Is 08002 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 08002 ranks 8,762nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on big-city access, transit, and walkability, 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 08002 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $335,400. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $101,480 median income, cost of living beats 77% of zip codes.

Is 08002 safe?

08002 is safer than 48% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $242 per resident a year.

What is the weather like in 08002?

July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 25. That works out to about 60 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of zip codes.

Is 08002 good for families?

Schools beat 19% of zip codes, crime safety beats 48%, and childcare runs $1,338 a month.


Compare 08002 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 08002. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 08002 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.

08002 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 08002: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 08002: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 08002: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 08002: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

08002 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.