Best PlacesParamus, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Paramus, 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.
Paramus ranks 486th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Paramus
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.
Paramus' strengths and weaknesses
Where Paramus ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of cities
- Household income$156,829 median, better than 93% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 86% of cities
Where Paramus ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,508 a month, better than only 14% of cities
- Short commute31.4 minutes each way, better than only 17% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 20% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Paramus
A household needs to earn about $222,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Paramus home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $156,829, 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 Paramus' effective rate of 1.50%, 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 Paramus
Paramus runs older 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 Paramus.
Who works in Paramus, and how
Work in Paramus centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Paramus
Paramus has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. The coast is about 26 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Paramus and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Paramus, month by month
Paramus sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Paramus
Laguardia sits about 16 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 16.3 million passengers in 2025, with 118 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Paramus
Schools across Paramus average a B−, better than 46% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Henry B. Milnes Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Hawes Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Midland Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thomas Jefferson Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Benjamin Franklin Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Westwood Regional Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Ridgewood High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Applied Technology High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Fair Lawn High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Paramus school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Paramus 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 Paramus against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Paramus suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 21% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Paramus
Is Paramus a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Paramus ranks 486th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on fast internet, big-city access, and high incomes, and lowest on state finances and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Paramus expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $774,114. The overall cost of living runs about 25% above the national average. Set against a $156,829 median income, cost of living beats 82% of cities.
Is Paramus safe?
Paramus is safer than 51% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $253 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Paramus?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 26. That works out to about 57 pleasant days a year, more than 4% of cities.
Is Paramus good for families?
Schools beat 46% of cities, crime safety beats 51%, and childcare runs $1,508 a month.
Compare Paramus with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Paramus. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Paramus 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.
Paramus detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Paramus: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Paramus: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Paramus: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Paramus: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Paramus 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.