Best PlacesHightstown, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hightstown, 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.
Hightstown ranks 605th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hightstown
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.
Hightstown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hightstown ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of cities
- Household income$128,224 median, better than 81% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 80% of cities
Where Hightstown ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,394 a month, better than only 23% of cities
- School gradeC, better than only 23% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Hightstown
A household needs to earn about $125,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hightstown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $128,224, 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 Hightstown's effective rate of 2.35%, 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 Hightstown
Hightstown's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hightstown.
Who works in Hightstown, and how
Work in Hightstown centers on retail trade and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Hightstown
Hightstown has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of cities and more parkland per resident than 79% of cities. The coast is about 28 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hightstown and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hightstown, month by month
Hightstown sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 24° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Hightstown
The nearest airport, Trenton Mercer, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 35 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hightstown
Schools across Hightstown average a C, better than 23% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Tree Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Sharon SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Cranbury SchoolB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pond Road Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Monroe Township Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Stonebridge Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Robbinsville High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Monroe Township High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Allentown High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hightstown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hightstown 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 Hightstown against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Hightstown suits
Families
Schools land around the 23rd percentile and crime safety beats 80%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 78% of cities and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hightstown
Is Hightstown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hightstown ranks 605th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on population health, big-city access, and walkability, 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 Hightstown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $395,037. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $128,224 median income, cost of living beats 78% of cities.
Is Hightstown safe?
Yes, Hightstown is safer than 80% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $158 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hightstown?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 24. That works out to about 59 pleasant days a year, more than 7% of cities.
Is Hightstown good for families?
Schools beat 23% of cities, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $1,394 a month.
Compare Hightstown with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hightstown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hightstown 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.
Hightstown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hightstown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hightstown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hightstown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hightstown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hightstown 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.