Best PlacesHillsborough, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hillsborough, 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.
Hillsborough ranks 182nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hillsborough
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.
Hillsborough's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hillsborough ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of cities
- Household income$162,285 median, better than 94% of cities
- QuietBetter than 93% of cities
Where Hillsborough ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 54 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of cities
- Short commute33.2 minutes each way, better than only 10% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,549 a month, better than only 12% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Hillsborough
A household needs to earn about $165,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hillsborough home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $162,285; 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 Hillsborough's effective rate of 1.93%, 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 Hillsborough
Hillsborough runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hillsborough.
Who works in Hillsborough, and how
Work in Hillsborough centers on manufacturing and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Hillsborough
Hillsborough has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of cities and more parkland per resident than 87% of cities. The coast is about 30 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hillsborough and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hillsborough, month by month
Hillsborough sees roughly 54 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 22° |
| April | 67° | 52° | 39° |
| July | 90° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 71° | 56° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Hillsborough
The nearest airport, Trenton Mercer, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 28 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hillsborough
Schools across Hillsborough average a B+, better than 70% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Dutch Neck Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Amsterdam Elementary SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Whiton Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Montgomery Lower Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Thomas R Grover Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Auten Road Intermediate SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- West Windsor-plainsboro High School SouthA · 68% proficient
- Montgomery High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Hillsborough High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hillsborough school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hillsborough 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 Hillsborough against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Hillsborough suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of cities and 25% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hillsborough
Is Hillsborough a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hillsborough ranks 182nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, low crime, and population health, and lowest on the weather and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hillsborough expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $547,050. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $162,285 median income, cost of living beats 92% of cities.
Is Hillsborough safe?
Yes, Hillsborough is safer than 99% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $104 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hillsborough?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 22. That works out to about 54 pleasant days a year, more than 1% of cities.
Is Hillsborough good for families?
Schools beat 70% of cities, crime safety beats 99%, and childcare runs $1,549 a month.
Compare Hillsborough with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hillsborough. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hillsborough 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.
Hillsborough detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hillsborough: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hillsborough: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hillsborough: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hillsborough: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hillsborough 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.