Best PlacesNewark, NJ 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. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Newark ranks 419th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 20 minutes away. Its strengths are walkability and cell coverage. The cost shows up in state finances, the cost of living against local pay, and civic engagement.
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.
The best areas in Newark
The parts of Newark, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Forest Hill, North Broadway & Mount Pleasant-Lower Broadway
Biking is better, fewer homes sit empty, and prices have run up less.
West Side & Lower Vailsburg
It is quieter and more adults hold degrees.
Upper Roseville, University Heights & Lower Roseville
Scores close to West Side & Lower Vailsburg, except that health outcomes score higher here.
North Ironbound
Streets are more walkable, though homes cost more.
Upper Vailsburg & Fairmuont
Tree cover is thicker and more residents vote.
Springfield-Belmont
Fewer households have young kids and incomes run lower.
Weequahic & Upper Clinton Hill
Scores close to Springfield-Belmont, except that heat risk is lower here.
South Broad Street & South Ironbound
Crime runs higher and health care is harder to reach.
Newark shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 4%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Newark's strengths and weaknesses
Newark ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Walkability is the standout, in the top 2% of cities. Cell coverage and big-city access follow.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: state finances, the cost of living against local pay, and civic engagement all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Newark ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of cities
- TransitBetter than 96% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of cities
Where Newark ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 2% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of cities
- Household income$59,373 median, better than only 3% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Newark
A household needs to earn about $119,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Newark home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $59,373, 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 Newark's effective rate of 1.81%, 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 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 transportation & warehousing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 30%
Life in Newark
Newark has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 20 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 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 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° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 71° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Newark
Newark Liberty International sits about 3 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 Newark
Schools across Newark average a D, better than 3% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- The Gray Charter SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Robert Treat Academy Charter SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Philip's Academy Charter SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Marlboro Memorial Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- South Orange Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Discovery Charter SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Science Park High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Technology High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Columbia High SchoolB− · 45% 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
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Newark
Is Newark a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Newark ranks 419th of 445 cities. It scores highest on walkability, cell coverage, and big-city access, and lowest on state finances and the cost of living against local pay. 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 $401,405. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $59,373 median income, cost of living beats 2% of cities.
Is Newark safe?
Newark is safer than 18% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $351 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Newark?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 26. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 2% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Newark?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Forest Hill, North Broadway & Mount Pleasant-Lower Broadway, West Side & Lower Vailsburg, and Upper Roseville, University Heights & Lower Roseville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Newark good for families?
Schools beat 3% of cities, crime safety beats 18%, and childcare runs $1,400 a month.
Is Newark good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 2% of cities, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 96% of cities. About 9% 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.