Best PlacesSalem County, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Salem County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Salem County ranks 1,630th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Salem County
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.
The best areas in Salem County
The parts of Salem County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Elmer
Fewer homes sit empty, it is quieter, and tree cover is thicker.
Woodstown
Prices have run up less and disaster risk is lower.
Pennsville
Incomes run lower and local pay stretches less far.
Pedricktown
Fewer households have young kids and fewer residents vote.
Salem
Crime runs higher and commutes are longer.
Penns Grove & Carneys Point
Biking is better, though health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Salem County run from about the 2nd to the 83rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Salem County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Salem County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of counties
- TransitBetter than 88% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of counties
- Household income$87,462 median, better than 84% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 78% of counties
Where Salem County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,338 a month, better than only 5% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Salem County
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Salem County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,462, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Salem County's effective rate of 2.49%, 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 Salem County
Salem County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Salem County.
Who works in Salem County, and how
Work in Salem County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Salem County
Salem County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of counties and more parkland per resident than 83% of counties. The coast is about 56 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Salem County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Salem County growing, and who is moving in?
Salem County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Philadelphia, PA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Salem County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Salem County, month by month
Salem County sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Salem County
The nearest airport, New Castle, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 18 miles away.
The best schools in and around Salem County
Schools across Salem County average a D+, better than 12% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mannington Township Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Logan Township Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Upper Pittsgrove SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Logan Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Creativity Colaboratory Charter SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Delsea Regional Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Kingsway Regional High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Delsea Regional High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Smyrna High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Salem County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Salem County 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 Salem County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Salem County suits
Families
Schools land around the 12th percentile and crime safety beats 85%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 78% of counties and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Salem County
Is Salem County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Salem County ranks 1,630th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, transit, and low crime, 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 Salem County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $249,479. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $87,462 median income, cost of living beats 78% of counties.
Is Salem County safe?
Yes, Salem County is safer than 85% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $183 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Salem County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 26. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 7% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Salem County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Elmer, Woodstown, and Pennsville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Salem County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Salem County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Salem County 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.
Salem County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Salem County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Salem County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Salem County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Salem County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Salem County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.