Best PlacesPrinceton Meadows, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Princeton Meadows, 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.
Princeton Meadows ranks 1,051st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Princeton Meadows
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.
Princeton Meadows' strengths and weaknesses
Where Princeton Meadows ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
Where Princeton Meadows ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,499 a month, better than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Princeton Meadows
A household needs to earn about $139,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Princeton Meadows home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $138,461; 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 Princeton Meadows' effective rate of 2.03%, 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 Princeton Meadows
Princeton Meadows runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Princeton Meadows.
Who works in Princeton Meadows, and how
Work in Princeton Meadows centers on professional & technical and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Princeton Meadows
The coast is about 29 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Princeton Meadows, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Princeton Meadows, month by month
Princeton Meadows sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, 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 | 43° | 34° | 24° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Princeton Meadows
The nearest airport, Trenton Mercer, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 32 miles away.
The best schools in and around Princeton Meadows
Schools across Princeton Meadows average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Millstone River SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Cranbury SchoolB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Community Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Thomas R Grover Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- West Windsor-plainsboro High School NorthA · 70% proficient
- West Windsor-plainsboro High School SouthA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Princeton Meadows school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Princeton Meadows 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 Princeton Meadows against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Princeton Meadows
Is Princeton Meadows a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Princeton Meadows ranks 1,051st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, an educated workforce, and big-city access, 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 Princeton Meadows expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $453,799. The overall cost of living runs about 16% above the national average. Set against a $138,461 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is Princeton Meadows safe?
Yes, Princeton Meadows is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $162 per resident a year.
Compare Princeton Meadows with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Princeton Meadows. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Princeton Meadows 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.
Princeton Meadows detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Princeton Meadows: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Princeton Meadows: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Princeton Meadows: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Princeton Meadows: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Princeton Meadows 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.