Best PlacesSpotswood, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Spotswood, 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.
Spotswood ranks 6,716th 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 Spotswood
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.
Spotswood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Spotswood ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 95% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 95% of towns
Where Spotswood 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
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Short commute32.8 minutes each way, better than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Spotswood
A household needs to earn about $123,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Spotswood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $124,924, 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 Spotswood's effective rate of 2.16%, 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 Spotswood
Spotswood runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Spotswood.
Who works in Spotswood, and how
Work in Spotswood centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Spotswood
Spotswood has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of towns. The coast is about 14 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Spotswood and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Spotswood, month by month
Spotswood 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 Spotswood
The nearest airport, Trenton Mercer, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 24 miles away.
The best schools in and around Spotswood
Schools across Spotswood average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mill LakeB− · 43% proficient
- Woodland SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Raymond E. Voorhees Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hammarskjold Upper Elementary SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Jonas Salk Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Spotswood Memorial Middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Monroe Township High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Old Bridge High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Spotswood High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Spotswood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Spotswood 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 Spotswood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Spotswood
Is Spotswood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Spotswood ranks 6,716th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, few empty homes, and transit, 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 Spotswood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $397,039. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $124,924 median income, cost of living beats 86% of towns.
Is Spotswood safe?
Yes, Spotswood is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $175 per resident a year.
Compare Spotswood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Spotswood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Spotswood 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.
Spotswood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Spotswood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Spotswood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Spotswood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Spotswood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Spotswood 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.