Best PlacesNorth Plainfield, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Plainfield, 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.
North Plainfield ranks 26,984th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Plainfield
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.
North Plainfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Plainfield ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 97% of towns
Where North Plainfield ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,546 a month, better than only 2% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 4% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Plainfield
A household needs to earn about $119,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Plainfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $93,756, 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 North Plainfield's effective rate of 2.60%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in North Plainfield
North Plainfield runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for North Plainfield.
Who works in North Plainfield, and how
Work in North Plainfield centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in North Plainfield
North Plainfield has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of towns and more parkland per resident than 89% of towns. The coast is about 21 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of North Plainfield and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Plainfield, month by month
North Plainfield sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 64° | 54° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 78° | 71° |
| October | 68° | 59° | 52° |
Flying in and out of North Plainfield
Newark Liberty International sits about 15 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 North Plainfield
Schools across North Plainfield average a D−, better than 4% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West End SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Stony Brook SchoolD− · 11% proficient
- East End SchoolF · 9% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hubbard Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- North Plainfield Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Somerset SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- North Plainfield High SchoolD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Plainfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Plainfield 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 North Plainfield against the other 50,332 towns.
Who North Plainfield suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in North Plainfield
Is North Plainfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Plainfield ranks 26,984th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, big-city access, and transit, and lowest on property taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North Plainfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $367,067. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $93,756 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is North Plainfield safe?
North Plainfield is safer than 46% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in North Plainfield?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 29. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 40% of towns.
Is North Plainfield good for families?
Schools beat 4% of towns, crime safety beats 46%, and childcare runs $1,546 a month.
Compare North Plainfield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Plainfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Plainfield 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.
North Plainfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Plainfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Plainfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Plainfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Plainfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Plainfield 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.