Best PlacesCranford, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cranford, 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.
Cranford ranks 1,038th 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 Cranford
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.
Cranford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cranford ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of towns
Where Cranford ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,432 a month, better than only 5% of towns
- Short commute34.5 minutes each way, better than only 15% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cranford
A household needs to earn about $203,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cranford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $160,051, 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 Cranford's effective rate of 1.92%, 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 Cranford
Cranford runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cranford.
Who works in Cranford, and how
Work in Cranford centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 59%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Cranford
Cranford has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns and more parkland per resident than 93% of towns. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cranford and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cranford, month by month
Cranford sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 64° | 54° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 78° | 71° |
| October | 68° | 59° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Cranford
Newark Liberty International sits about 8 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 Cranford
Schools across Cranford average a B, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Washington Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Brookside Place SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Livingston Avenue SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Roosevelt Intermediate SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Orange Avenue SchoolB+ · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Westfield Senior High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Cranford High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cranford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cranford 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 Cranford against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Cranford suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 27% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Cranford
Is Cranford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cranford ranks 1,038th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, population health, 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 Cranford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $672,381. The overall cost of living runs about 19% above the national average. Set against a $160,051 median income, cost of living beats 96% of towns.
Is Cranford safe?
Yes, Cranford is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $200 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cranford?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 29. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of towns.
Is Cranford good for families?
Schools beat 69% of towns, crime safety beats 59%, and childcare runs $1,432 a month.
Compare Cranford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cranford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cranford 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.
Cranford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cranford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cranford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cranford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cranford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cranford 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.