Best PlacesMontclair, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Montclair, 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.
Montclair ranks 320th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Montclair
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.
Montclair's strengths and weaknesses
Where Montclair ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of cities
- TransitBetter than 95% of cities
Where Montclair ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of cities
- Short commute33.6 minutes each way, better than only 9% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Montclair
A household needs to earn about $254,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Montclair home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $140,287, 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 Montclair's effective rate of 2.12%, 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 Montclair
Montclair's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Montclair.
Who works in Montclair, and how
Work in Montclair centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 49%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Montclair
Montclair has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. The coast is about 28 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Montclair and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Montclair, month by month
Montclair sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Montclair
Newark Liberty International sits about 9 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 Montclair
Schools across Montclair average a B, better than 57% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Hillside Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Charles H. Bullock SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Laning Avenue SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Henry B. Whitehorne Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Buzz Aldrin Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Renaissance Middle School At The Rand BuildingB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Montclair High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Verona High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Cedar Grove High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Montclair school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Montclair 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 Montclair against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Montclair suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 78% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 32% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Montclair
Is Montclair a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Montclair ranks 320th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on big-city access, walkability, and fast internet, 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 Montclair expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $823,045. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $140,287 median income, cost of living beats 78% of cities.
Is Montclair safe?
Montclair is safer than 18% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $293 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Montclair?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 24. That works out to about 60 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of cities.
Is Montclair good for families?
Schools beat 57% of cities, crime safety beats 18%, and childcare runs $1,401 a month.
Compare Montclair with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Montclair. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Montclair 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.
Montclair detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Montclair: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Montclair: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Montclair: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Montclair: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Montclair 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.