Best PlacesHolmdel, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Holmdel, 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.
Holmdel ranks 866th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Holmdel
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.
Holmdel's strengths and weaknesses
Where Holmdel ranks high
- Household income$184,262 median, better than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
Where Holmdel ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,493 a month, better than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of towns
- Short commute37.5 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Holmdel
A household needs to earn about $254,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Holmdel home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $184,262, 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 Holmdel's effective rate of 1.67%, 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 Holmdel
Holmdel runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Holmdel.
Who works in Holmdel, and how
Work in Holmdel centers on professional & technical and finance & insurance. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 54%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Holmdel
Holmdel has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of towns and more parkland per resident than 85% of towns. The coast is about 7 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Holmdel and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Holmdel, month by month
Holmdel sees roughly 66 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 Holmdel
Newark Liberty International sits about 21 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 23.5 million passengers in 2025, with 242 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Holmdel
Schools across Holmdel average an A−, better than 89% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Village SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Frank Defino Central Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Nut Swamp Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indian Hill SchoolA · 63% proficient
- William R. Satz SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Marlboro Memorial Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Holmdel High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Middletown High School SouthB− · 43% proficient
- Raritan High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Holmdel school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Holmdel 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 Holmdel against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Holmdel
Is Holmdel a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Holmdel ranks 866th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, big-city access, and what local pay buys, and lowest on state finances and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Holmdel expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $868,413. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $184,262 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Holmdel safe?
Yes, Holmdel is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $147 per resident a year.
Compare Holmdel with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Holmdel. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Holmdel 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.
Holmdel detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Holmdel: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Holmdel: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Holmdel: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Holmdel: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Holmdel 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.