Best PlacesNorma, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Norma, 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.
Norma ranks 24,915th 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 Norma
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.
Norma's strengths and weaknesses
Where Norma ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
- QuietBetter than 81% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 78% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 72% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 70% of towns
Where Norma ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,338 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Norma
A household needs to earn about $88,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norma home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,002, 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 Norma's effective rate of 1.65%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Norma
Norma'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 Norma.
Who works in Norma, and how
Work in Norma centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 0%
Life in Norma
The coast is about 45 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Norma, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Norma, month by month
Norma sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 46, 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 | 46° | 35° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Norma
Philadelphia International sits about 26 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 14.8 million passengers in 2025, with 179 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Norma
Schools across Norma average a C−, better than 17% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Olivet Elementary SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Deerfield Township Elementary SchoolD · 19% proficient
- Dane Barse Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pittsgrove Township Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Thomas W. Wallace Jr. Middle SchoolF · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Arthur P. Schalick High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Memorial High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norma school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norma 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 Norma against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Norma
Is Norma a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norma ranks 24,915th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, quiet, and few empty homes, 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 Norma expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $302,869. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $76,002 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is Norma safe?
Yes, Norma is safer than 57% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $188 per resident a year.
Compare Norma with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norma. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norma 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.
Norma detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norma: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norma: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norma: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norma: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norma 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.