Best PlacesFreehold, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Freehold, 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.
Freehold ranks 692nd 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 Freehold
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.
Freehold's strengths and weaknesses
Where Freehold ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of cities
- QuietBetter than 88% of cities
- Household income$131,268 median, better than 83% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 81% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 80% of cities
Where Freehold ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,493 a month, better than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Freehold
A household needs to earn about $150,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Freehold home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $131,268, 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 Freehold's effective rate of 1.89%, 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 Freehold
Freehold runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Freehold.
Who works in Freehold, and how
Work in Freehold centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Freehold
Freehold has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Freehold and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Freehold, month by month
Freehold sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 64° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Freehold
The nearest airport, Trenton Mercer, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 31 miles away.
The best schools in and around Freehold
Schools across Freehold average a C, better than 28% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Lafayette Mills SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Frank J. Dugan Elementary SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Conover Road Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pine Brook SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Marlboro Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Cedar Drive Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Biotechnology High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Colts Neck High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Freehold Township High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Freehold school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Freehold 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 Freehold against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Freehold suits
Families
Schools land around the 28th percentile and crime safety beats 80%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 73% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Freehold
Is Freehold a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Freehold ranks 692nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on big-city access, quiet, and high incomes, and lowest on state finances and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Freehold expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $498,016. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $131,268 median income, cost of living beats 73% of cities.
Is Freehold safe?
Yes, Freehold is safer than 80% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $165 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Freehold?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 26. That works out to about 60 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of cities.
Is Freehold good for families?
Schools beat 28% of cities, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $1,493 a month.
Compare Freehold with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Freehold. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Freehold 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.
Freehold detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Freehold: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Freehold: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Freehold: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Freehold: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Freehold 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.