Best PlacesLivingston, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Livingston, 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.
Livingston ranks 83rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Livingston
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.
Livingston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Livingston ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of cities
- Household income$214,483 median, better than 99% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of cities
Where Livingston ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Short commute37.7 minutes each way, better than only 2% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,400 a month, better than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Livingston
A household needs to earn about $265,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Livingston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $214,483, 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 Livingston's effective rate of 1.94%, 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 Livingston
Livingston runs older 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 Livingston.
Who works in Livingston, and how
Work in Livingston centers on professional & technical and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 54%
- Work from home 33%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Livingston
Livingston has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. The coast is about 30 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Livingston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Livingston, month by month
Livingston sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Livingston
Newark Liberty International sits about 10 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 Livingston
Schools across Livingston average an A−, better than 82% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Hillside Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Harrison Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Riker Hill Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mount Pleasant Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Heritage Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- East Hanover Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Livingston High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Hanover Park High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- West Orange High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Livingston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Livingston 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 Livingston against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Livingston suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of cities and 33% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Livingston
Is Livingston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Livingston ranks 83rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and population health, and lowest on state finances and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Livingston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $875,565. The overall cost of living runs about 27% above the national average. Set against a $214,483 median income, cost of living beats 99% of cities.
Is Livingston safe?
Yes, Livingston is safer than 59% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $200 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Livingston?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 24. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 28% of cities.
Is Livingston good for families?
Schools beat 82% of cities, crime safety beats 59%, and childcare runs $1,400 a month.
Compare Livingston with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Livingston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Livingston 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.
Livingston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Livingston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Livingston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Livingston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Livingston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Livingston 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.