Best PlacesSouth Orange, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Orange, 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.
South Orange ranks 808th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 South Orange
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.
South Orange's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Orange ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$193,056 median, better than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
Where South Orange ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,400 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- Short commute38.5 minutes each way, better than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Orange
A household needs to earn about $250,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Orange home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $193,056, 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 South Orange's effective rate of 2.42%, 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 South Orange
South Orange 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 South Orange.
Who works in South Orange, and how
Work in South Orange centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 37%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 29%
Life in South Orange
South Orange has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns and more parkland per resident than 87% of towns. The coast is about 24 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of South Orange and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Orange, month by month
South Orange sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 71° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of South Orange
Newark Liberty International sits about 6 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 South Orange
Schools across South Orange average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Deerfield SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- South Mountain Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Clinton Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Millburn Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- South Orange Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Maplewood Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Millburn High SchoolA · 74% proficient
- Stem Innovation Academy Of The OrangesB+ · 57% proficient
- Columbia High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Orange school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Orange 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 South Orange against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Orange
Is South Orange a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Orange ranks 808th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, population health, and an educated workforce, 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 South Orange expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $783,423. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $193,056 median income, cost of living beats 99% of towns.
Is South Orange safe?
South Orange is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $294 per resident a year.
Compare South Orange with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Orange. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Orange 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.
South Orange detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Orange: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Orange: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Orange: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Orange: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Orange 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.