Best PlacesElm, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elm, 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.
Elm ranks 23,194th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Elm
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.
Elm's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elm ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$121,813 median, better than 94% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 93% of towns
- TransitBetter than 93% of towns
Where Elm ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,338 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elm
A household needs to earn about $88,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elm home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $121,813, 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 Elm's effective rate of 2.74%, 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 Elm
Elm runs older than the country, 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 Elm.
Who works in Elm, and how
Work in Elm centers on education and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Elm
The coast is about 46 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Elm, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Elm, month by month
Elm sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 25° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Elm
The nearest airport, Atlantic City International, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 26 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elm
Schools across Elm average a D+, better than 14% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Waterford Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Winslow Township Elementary School OneF · 9% proficient
Top middle schools
- Winslow Township Elementary School FiveD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Hammonton High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Winslow Township High SchoolD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elm school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elm 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 Elm against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elm
Is Elm a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elm ranks 23,194th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, tree cover, and high incomes, and lowest on property taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elm expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $264,890. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $121,813 median income, cost of living beats 93% of towns.
Is Elm safe?
Yes, Elm is safer than 67% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $167 per resident a year.
Compare Elm with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elm. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elm 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.
Elm detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elm: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elm: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elm: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elm: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elm 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.