Best PlacesHi-Nella, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hi-Nella, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hi-Nella ranks 18,551st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hi-Nella
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.
Hi-Nella's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hi-Nella ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
Where Hi-Nella 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
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hi-Nella
A household needs to earn about $88,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hi-Nella home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $79,059; 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 Hi-Nella's effective rate of 2.85%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hi-Nella
Hi-Nella's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hi-Nella.
Who works in Hi-Nella, and how
Work in Hi-Nella centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Hi-Nella
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hi-Nella.
What the weather is like in Hi-Nella, month by month
Hi-Nella sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Hi-Nella
Philadelphia International sits about 12 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 14.8 million passengers in 2025, with 179 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Hi-Nella
Schools across Hi-Nella average a D+, better than 16% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Parkview Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Somerdale Park SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Samuel S. Yellin Elementary SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Sterling High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hi-Nella school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hi-Nella 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 Hi-Nella against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hi-Nella
Is Hi-Nella a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hi-Nella ranks 18,551st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, walkability, and big-city access, 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 Hi-Nella expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $262,426. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $79,059 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Hi-Nella safe?
Hi-Nella is safer than 30% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $259 per resident a year.
Compare Hi-Nella with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hi-Nella. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hi-Nella 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.
Hi-Nella detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hi-Nella: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hi-Nella: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hi-Nella: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hi-Nella: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hi-Nella 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.