Best PlacesNew Providence, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Providence, 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.
New Providence ranks 842nd 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 New Providence
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.
New Providence's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Providence ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$166,208 median, better than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
Where New Providence ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,432 a month, better than only 5% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in New Providence
A household needs to earn about $234,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Providence home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $166,208, 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 New Providence's effective rate of 1.95%, 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 New Providence
New Providence runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for New Providence.
Who works in New Providence, and how
Work in New Providence centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in New Providence
New Providence has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of towns and more parkland per resident than 87% of towns. The coast is about 28 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of New Providence and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in New Providence, month by month
New Providence sees roughly 71 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 New Providence
Newark Liberty International sits about 12 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 New Providence
Schools across New Providence average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lafayette Avenue SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Allen W. Roberts SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Southern Boulevard SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Providence Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Columbia Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Chatham High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- New Providence High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Governor Livingston High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Providence school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Providence 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 New Providence against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in New Providence
Is New Providence a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Providence ranks 842nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, population health, and an educated workforce, 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 New Providence expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $773,952. The overall cost of living runs about 22% above the national average. Set against a $166,208 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is New Providence safe?
Yes, New Providence is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $197 per resident a year.
Compare New Providence with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Providence. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Providence 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.
New Providence detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Providence: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Providence: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Providence: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Providence: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Providence 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.