Best PlacesCollings Lakes, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Collings Lakes, 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.
Collings Lakes ranks 22,078th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Collings Lakes
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.
Collings Lakes' strengths and weaknesses
Where Collings Lakes ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 93% of towns
- Household income$103,613 median, better than 87% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Collings Lakes ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,359 a month, better than only 7% of towns
- Short commute37.3 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Collings Lakes
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Collings Lakes home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $103,613, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Collings Lakes' effective rate of 2.20%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Collings Lakes
Collings Lakes runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Collings Lakes.
Who works in Collings Lakes, and how
Work in Collings Lakes centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Collings Lakes
The coast is about 32 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Collings Lakes, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Collings Lakes, month by month
Collings Lakes sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Collings Lakes
The nearest airport, Atlantic City International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 27 miles away.
The best schools in and around Collings Lakes
Schools across Collings Lakes average a D, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Whitehall Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Main Road SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Folsom Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Delsea Regional Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Williamstown Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Winslow Township Elementary School FiveD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Delsea Regional High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Williamstown High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Buena Regional High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Collings Lakes school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Collings Lakes 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 Collings Lakes against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Collings Lakes
Is Collings Lakes a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Collings Lakes ranks 22,078th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, big-city access, and transit, and lowest on state finances and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Collings Lakes expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $224,837. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $103,613 median income, cost of living beats 84% of towns.
Is Collings Lakes safe?
Yes, Collings Lakes is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $134 per resident a year.
Compare Collings Lakes with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Collings Lakes. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Collings Lakes 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.
Collings Lakes detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Collings Lakes: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Collings Lakes: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Collings Lakes: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Collings Lakes: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Collings Lakes 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.