Best PlacesHarding Lakes, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Harding 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.
Harding Lakes ranks 24,847th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Harding 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.
Harding Lakes' strengths and weaknesses
Where Harding Lakes ranks high
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of towns
Where Harding Lakes ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,355 a month, better than only 7% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Harding Lakes
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harding Lakes home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,010, 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 Harding Lakes' effective rate of 2.27%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Harding Lakes
Harding Lakes'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 Harding Lakes.
Who works in Harding Lakes, and how
Work in Harding Lakes centers on hospitality & food and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Harding Lakes
The coast is about 26 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Harding Lakes, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Harding Lakes, month by month
Harding Lakes sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 36° | 26° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 42° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Harding Lakes
The nearest airport, Atlantic City International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 39 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harding Lakes
Schools across Harding Lakes average a D, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Weymouth Township Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- William Davies Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Oakcrest High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harding Lakes school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harding 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 Harding Lakes against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Harding Lakes
Is Harding Lakes a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harding Lakes ranks 24,847th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, big-city access, and biking, 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 Harding Lakes expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $208,697. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $81,010 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is Harding Lakes safe?
Yes, Harding Lakes is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $202 per resident a year.
Compare Harding Lakes with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harding Lakes. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harding 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.
Harding Lakes detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harding Lakes: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harding Lakes: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harding Lakes: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harding Lakes: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harding 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.