Best PlacesBasking Ridge, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Basking Ridge, 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.
Basking Ridge ranks 378th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Basking Ridge
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.
Basking Ridge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Basking Ridge ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$210,194 median, better than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
Where Basking Ridge ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,549 a month, better than only 2% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Basking Ridge
A household needs to earn about $250,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Basking Ridge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $210,194, 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 Basking Ridge's effective rate of 1.74%, 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 Basking Ridge
Basking Ridge runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Basking Ridge.
Who works in Basking Ridge, and how
Work in Basking Ridge centers on professional & technical and finance & insurance. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Basking Ridge
Basking Ridge has more parkland per resident than 94% of towns. The coast is about 31 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Basking Ridge and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Basking Ridge, month by month
Basking Ridge sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 22° |
| April | 67° | 52° | 39° |
| July | 90° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 71° | 56° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Basking Ridge
Newark Liberty International sits about 21 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 Basking Ridge
Schools across Basking Ridge average an A−, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mount Prospect Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Hamilton Primary SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Cedar Hill SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- William Annin Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Warren Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Hillside Intermediate SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Ridge High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Watchung Hills Regional High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Bernards High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Basking Ridge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Basking Ridge 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 Basking Ridge against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Basking Ridge suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 100% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 29% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Basking Ridge
Is Basking Ridge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Basking Ridge ranks 378th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on state finances and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Basking Ridge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $849,147. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $210,194 median income, cost of living beats 100% of towns.
Is Basking Ridge safe?
Yes, Basking Ridge is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $114 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Basking Ridge?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 22. That works out to about 59 pleasant days a year, more than 7% of towns.
Is Basking Ridge good for families?
Schools beat 88% of towns, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $1,549 a month.
Compare Basking Ridge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Basking Ridge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Basking Ridge 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.
Basking Ridge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Basking Ridge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Basking Ridge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Basking Ridge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Basking Ridge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Basking Ridge 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.