Best PlacesEast Brunswick, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Brunswick, 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.
East Brunswick ranks 434th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in East Brunswick
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.
East Brunswick's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Brunswick ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of cities
- Household income$155,469 median, better than 93% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 89% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 87% of cities
Where East Brunswick ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of cities
- Short commute36.4 minutes each way, better than only 4% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,499 a month, better than only 15% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 30% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in East Brunswick
A household needs to earn about $164,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Brunswick home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $155,469; 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 East Brunswick's effective rate of 2.28%, 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 East Brunswick
East Brunswick's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for East Brunswick.
Who works in East Brunswick, and how
Work in East Brunswick centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in East Brunswick
East Brunswick has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. The coast is about 14 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of East Brunswick and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Brunswick, month by month
East Brunswick 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 East Brunswick
Newark Liberty International sits about 22 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 East Brunswick
Schools across East Brunswick average a B−, better than 47% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Hatikvah International Academy Charter SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Warnsdorfer Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Frost Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hammarskjold Upper Elementary SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Churchill Junior High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Crossroads North Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- South Brunswick High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- East Brunswick Magnet SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- East Brunswick High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Brunswick school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Brunswick 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 East Brunswick against the other 2,097 cities.
Who East Brunswick suits
Families
Schools land around the 47th percentile and crime safety beats 76%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of cities and 24% already work from home.
Common questions about living in East Brunswick
Is East Brunswick a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Brunswick ranks 434th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on big-city access, high incomes, and few empty homes, 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 East Brunswick expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $520,878. The overall cost of living runs about 16% above the national average. Set against a $155,469 median income, cost of living beats 87% of cities.
Is East Brunswick safe?
Yes, East Brunswick is safer than 76% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $179 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in East Brunswick?
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 40% of cities.
Is East Brunswick good for families?
Schools beat 47% of cities, crime safety beats 76%, and childcare runs $1,499 a month.
Compare East Brunswick with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Brunswick. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Brunswick 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.
East Brunswick detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Brunswick: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Brunswick: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Brunswick: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Brunswick: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Brunswick 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.