Best PlacesScotch Plains, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Scotch Plains, 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.
Scotch Plains ranks 434th 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 Scotch Plains
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.
Scotch Plains' strengths and weaknesses
Where Scotch Plains ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$187,575 median, better than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of towns
Where Scotch Plains ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,434 a month, better than only 5% of towns
- Short commute33.6 minutes each way, better than only 18% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Scotch Plains
A household needs to earn about $226,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Scotch Plains home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $187,575, 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 Scotch Plains' effective rate of 2.10%, 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 Scotch Plains
Scotch Plains 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 Scotch Plains.
Who works in Scotch Plains, and how
Work in Scotch Plains centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Scotch Plains
Scotch Plains has more parkland per resident than 89% of towns. The coast is about 20 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Scotch Plains and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Scotch Plains, month by month
Scotch Plains sees roughly 77 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 Scotch Plains
Newark Liberty International sits about 12 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 Scotch Plains
Schools across Scotch Plains average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Martin Luther King Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Tamaques Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- J. Ackerman Coles Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- John Adams Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Thomas Edison Intermediate SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Terrill Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Union County Magnet High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Academy For Allied Health SciencesA+ · 90% proficient
- Academy For Information TechnologyA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Scotch Plains school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Scotch Plains 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 Scotch Plains against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Scotch Plains suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 25% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Scotch Plains
Is Scotch Plains a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Scotch Plains ranks 434th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, high incomes, and population health, 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 Scotch Plains expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $733,847. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $187,575 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Scotch Plains safe?
Yes, Scotch Plains is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $172 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Scotch Plains?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 29. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of towns.
Is Scotch Plains good for families?
Schools beat 70% of towns, crime safety beats 68%, and childcare runs $1,434 a month.
Compare Scotch Plains with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Scotch Plains. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Scotch Plains 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.
Scotch Plains detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Scotch Plains: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Scotch Plains: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Scotch Plains: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Scotch Plains: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Scotch Plains 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.