Best PlacesNewark, DE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Newark, 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.
Newark ranks 168th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 23 minutes away. Its strengths are tree cover and state infrastructure. The cost shows up in a weak job market, the weather, and internet speeds.
The best neighborhoods in Newark
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.
Newark's strengths and weaknesses
Newark lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Tree cover, state infrastructure, and low disaster risk carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. A weak job market, the weather, and internet speeds hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Newark ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 92% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 83% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 78% of cities
Where Newark ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of cities
- School gradeC−, better than only 16% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 27% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Newark
A household needs to earn about $96,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Newark home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $94,586; 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 Newark's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Newark
Newark runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Newark.
Who works in Newark, and how
Work in Newark centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Newark
Newark has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of cities and more parkland per resident than 85% of cities. The coast is about 23 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Newark and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Newark, month by month
Newark sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Newark
The nearest airport, New Castle, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 29 miles away.
The best schools in and around Newark
Schools across Newark average a C−, better than 16% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- North Star Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- West Park Place Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Linden Hill Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waters (alfred G.) Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Dupont (h.b.) Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Bedford (gunning) Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Appoquinimink High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Christiana High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Penn (william) High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Newark school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Newark 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 Newark against the other 444 cities.
Who Newark suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 70% of cities and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Newark
Is Newark a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Newark ranks 168th of 445 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, state infrastructure, and low disaster risk, and lowest on a weak job market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Newark expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $368,015. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $94,586 median income, cost of living beats 70% of cities.
Is Newark safe?
Newark is safer than 52% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $374 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Newark?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 26. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of cities.
Is Newark good for families?
Schools beat 16% of cities, crime safety beats 52%, and childcare runs $1,109 a month.
Is Newark good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 70% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 11% of cities. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare Newark with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Newark. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Newark 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.
Newark detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Newark: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Newark: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Newark: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Newark: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Newark 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.