Best PlacesLakewood, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lakewood, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lakewood ranks 346th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 14 minutes away. Its strengths are quiet and a strong job market. The cost shows up in an overheated housing market, state finances, and the schools.
The best neighborhoods in Lakewood
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.
Lakewood's strengths and weaknesses
Lakewood ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Quiet is the standout, in the top 2% of cities. A strong job market and fast internet follow.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: an overheated housing market, state finances, and the schools all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Lakewood ranks high
- QuietBetter than 98% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 98% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of cities
Where Lakewood ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of cities
- School gradeD, better than only 4% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lakewood
A household needs to earn about $178,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lakewood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $78,493, 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 Lakewood's effective rate of 1.50%, 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 Lakewood
Lakewood runs younger than the country, 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 Lakewood.
Who works in Lakewood, and how
Work in Lakewood centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Lakewood
Lakewood has more parkland per resident than 87% of cities. The coast is about 14 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Lakewood and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lakewood, month by month
Lakewood sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Lakewood
The nearest airport, Trenton Mercer, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 42 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lakewood
Schools across Lakewood average a D, better than 4% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Ramtown Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Drum Point Road Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Emma Havens Young Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Howell Township Middle School SouthC · 34% proficient
- Lake Riviera Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Christa Mcauliffe Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Jackson Liberty High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Brick Township High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Brick Township Memorial High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lakewood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lakewood 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 Lakewood against the other 444 cities.
Who Lakewood suits
Families
Schools land around the 4th percentile and crime safety beats 78%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lakewood
Is Lakewood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lakewood ranks 346th of 445 cities. It scores highest on quiet, a strong job market, and fast internet, and lowest on an overheated housing market and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lakewood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $620,744. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $78,493 median income, cost of living beats 8% of cities.
Is Lakewood safe?
Yes, Lakewood is safer than 78% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $196 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lakewood?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 26. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 12% of cities.
Is Lakewood good for families?
Schools beat 4% of cities, crime safety beats 78%, and childcare runs $1,478 a month.
Is Lakewood good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 8% of cities, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 94% of cities. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Lakewood with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lakewood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lakewood 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.
Lakewood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lakewood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lakewood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lakewood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lakewood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lakewood 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.