Best PlacesRed Bank, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Red Bank, 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.
Red Bank ranks 6,589th 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 Red Bank
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.
Red Bank's strengths and weaknesses
Where Red Bank ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
Where Red Bank ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,493 a month, better than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Red Bank
A household needs to earn about $165,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Red Bank home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $119,728, 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 Red Bank's effective rate of 1.66%, 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 Red Bank
Red Bank runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Red Bank.
Who works in Red Bank, and how
Work in Red Bank centers on retail trade and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Red Bank
Red Bank has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of towns and more parkland per resident than 83% of towns. The coast is about 9 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Red Bank and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Red Bank, month by month
Red Bank sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 64° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Red Bank
Newark Liberty International sits about 24 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 Red Bank
Schools across Red Bank average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Viola L Sickles SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Nut Swamp Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Shrewsbury Borough Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Knollwood SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Thompson Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Bayshore Middle SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Rumson-fair Haven Regional High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Middletown High School SouthB− · 43% proficient
- Middletown High School NorthC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Red Bank school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Red Bank 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 Red Bank against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Red Bank suits
Families
Schools land around the 26th percentile and crime safety beats 60%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Red Bank
Is Red Bank a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Red Bank ranks 6,589th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, walkability, and few empty homes, and lowest on state finances and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Red Bank expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $564,327. The overall cost of living runs about 21% above the national average. Set against a $119,728 median income, cost of living beats 80% of towns.
Is Red Bank safe?
Yes, Red Bank is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $206 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Red Bank?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 26. That works out to about 60 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of towns.
Is Red Bank good for families?
Schools beat 26% of towns, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $1,493 a month.
Compare Red Bank with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Red Bank. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Red Bank 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.
Red Bank detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Red Bank: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Red Bank: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Red Bank: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Red Bank: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Red Bank 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.