Best PlacesIselin, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Iselin, 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.
Iselin ranks 8,813th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Iselin
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.
Iselin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Iselin ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of towns
Where Iselin ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,499 a month, better than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Iselin
A household needs to earn about $126,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Iselin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $117,032; 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 Iselin's effective rate of 2.20%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Iselin
Iselin's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Iselin.
Who works in Iselin, and how
Work in Iselin centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 59%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Iselin
Iselin has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of towns and more parkland per resident than 94% of towns. The coast is about 10 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Iselin and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Iselin, month by month
Iselin sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 64° | 54° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 78° | 71° |
| October | 68° | 59° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Iselin
Newark Liberty International sits about 11 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 Iselin
Schools across Iselin average a B−, better than 55% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Tree Road Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Indiana Avenue Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Robert Mascenik Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Iselin Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Colonia Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Fords Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- John F. Kennedy Memorial High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Colonia High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Woodbridge High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Iselin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Iselin 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 Iselin against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Iselin suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 23% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Iselin
Is Iselin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Iselin ranks 8,813th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, walkability, and population health, 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 Iselin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $405,371. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $117,032 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Iselin safe?
Iselin is safer than 44% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $226 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Iselin?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 29. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of towns.
Is Iselin good for families?
Schools beat 55% of towns, crime safety beats 44%, and childcare runs $1,499 a month.
Compare Iselin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Iselin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Iselin 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.
Iselin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Iselin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Iselin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Iselin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Iselin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Iselin 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.