Best PlacesPiscataway, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Piscataway, 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.
Piscataway ranks 590th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Piscataway
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.
Piscataway's strengths and weaknesses
Where Piscataway ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- Household income$134,696 median, better than 84% of cities
Where Piscataway ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,499 a month, better than only 15% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 22% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Piscataway
A household needs to earn about $138,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Piscataway home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $134,696; 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 Piscataway's effective rate of 1.94%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Piscataway
Piscataway 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 Piscataway.
Who works in Piscataway, and how
Work in Piscataway centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Piscataway
Piscataway has more parkland per resident than 93% of cities. The coast is about 17 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Piscataway and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Piscataway, month by month
Piscataway sees roughly 69 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 Piscataway
Newark Liberty International sits about 18 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 Piscataway
Schools across Piscataway average a C, better than 25% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Woodbrook Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Knollwood Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- John Marshall Elementary SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Conackamack Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Highland Park Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Thomas Jefferson Middle SchoolC− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- South Plainfield High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Highland Park High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Piscataway Township High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Piscataway school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Piscataway 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 Piscataway against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Piscataway suits
Families
Schools land around the 25th percentile and crime safety beats 76%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Piscataway
Is Piscataway a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Piscataway ranks 590th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on population health, big-city access, and fast internet, 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 Piscataway expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $456,280. The overall cost of living runs about 16% above the national average. Set against a $134,696 median income, cost of living beats 71% of cities.
Is Piscataway safe?
Yes, Piscataway is safer than 76% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $172 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Piscataway?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 29. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 24% of cities.
Is Piscataway good for families?
Schools beat 25% of cities, crime safety beats 76%, and childcare runs $1,499 a month.
Compare Piscataway with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Piscataway. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Piscataway 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.
Piscataway detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Piscataway: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Piscataway: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Piscataway: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Piscataway: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Piscataway 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.