Best PlacesBernards, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bernards, 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.
Bernards ranks 6,140th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bernards
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.
Bernards' strengths and weaknesses
Where Bernards ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
Where Bernards ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,549 a month, better than only 2% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bernards
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bernards home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $95,185; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Bernards' effective rate of 1.77%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bernards
Bernards runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bernards.
Who works in Bernards, and how
Work in Bernards centers on professional & technical and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Bernards
The coast is about 28 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Bernards, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bernards, month by month
Bernards sees roughly 57 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 Bernards
Newark Liberty International sits about 20 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 Bernards
Schools across Bernards average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cedar Hill SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Liberty Corner SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Central SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- William Annin Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Warren Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Ridge High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Watchung Hills Regional High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bernards school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bernards 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 Bernards against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bernards
Is Bernards a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bernards ranks 6,140th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, population health, 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 Bernards expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $358,787. The overall cost of living runs about 16% above the national average. Set against a $95,185 median income, cost of living beats 67% of towns.
Is Bernards safe?
Yes, Bernards is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $160 per resident a year.
Compare Bernards with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bernards. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bernards 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.
Bernards detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bernards: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bernards: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bernards: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bernards: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bernards 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.