Best PlacesInterlaken, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Interlaken, 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.
Interlaken ranks 2,711th 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 Interlaken
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.
Interlaken's strengths and weaknesses
Where Interlaken ranks high
- Household income$199,167 median, better than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
Where Interlaken ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,493 a month, better than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of towns
- Short commute40.1 minutes each way, better than only 5% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Interlaken
A household needs to earn about $274,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Interlaken home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $199,167, 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 Interlaken's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Interlaken
Interlaken runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Interlaken.
Who works in Interlaken, and how
Work in Interlaken centers on professional & technical and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Interlaken
The coast is about 4 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Interlaken, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Interlaken, month by month
Interlaken sees roughly 60 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 Interlaken
John F Kennedy International sits about 31 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 31.0 million passengers in 2025, with 249 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Interlaken
Schools across Interlaken average a D, better than 5% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wanamassa Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Bradley Elementary SchoolF · 5% proficient
Top middle schools
- Township Of Ocean Intermediate SchoolC− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Ocean Township High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Asbury Park High SchoolD− · 11% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Interlaken school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Interlaken 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 Interlaken against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Interlaken
Is Interlaken a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Interlaken ranks 2,711th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, big-city access, and fast internet, and lowest on state finances and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Interlaken expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,058,200. The overall cost of living runs about 33% above the national average. Set against a $199,167 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Interlaken safe?
Yes, Interlaken is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $147 per resident a year.
Compare Interlaken with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Interlaken. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Interlaken 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.
Interlaken detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Interlaken: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Interlaken: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Interlaken: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Interlaken: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Interlaken 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.