Best PlacesSussex County, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sussex 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.
Sussex County ranks 187th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $125,733, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are state finances, property taxes, and long commutes.
The best neighborhoods in Sussex 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 Sussex County
The parts of Sussex 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.
Lafayette
More households have young kids, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Hopatcong, Lake Mohawk & Stanhope
More adults hold degrees.
Newton & Andover
Scores close to Hopatcong, Lake Mohawk & Stanhope, except that prices have run up more here.
Wantage
Fewer homes sit empty and it is quieter.
Hamburg, Franklin & Ogdensburg
Tree cover is thinner.
Montague
Crime runs higher.
Vernon
Commutes are longer.
Hampton, Stillwater & Branchville
Streets are more walkable, though health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Sussex County run from about the 17th to the 97th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Sussex County's strengths and weaknesses
Sussex County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Fast internet is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Low crime and big-city access follow.
The one real hole is state finances, near the bottom of the country. Property taxes and long commutes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Sussex County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$125,733 median, better than 98% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of counties
Where Sussex County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Short commute36.3 minutes each way, better than only 2% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,439 a month, better than only 3% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sussex County
A household needs to earn about $120,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sussex County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $125,733, 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 Sussex County's effective rate of 2.24%, 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 Sussex County
Sussex County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sussex County.
Who works in Sussex County, and how
Work in Sussex County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Sussex County
Sussex County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of counties and more parkland per resident than 66% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sussex County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sussex County growing, and who is moving in?
Sussex County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the New York, NY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sussex County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sussex County, month by month
Sussex County sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Sussex County
Newark Liberty International sits about 37 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 Sussex County
Schools across Sussex County average a C, better than 35% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sanfordville Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Sandyston Walpack Consolidated SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Valley Road SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Warwick Valley Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Sparta Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Byram Intermediate SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Warwick Valley High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Port Jervis Senior High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Delaware Valley HsA · 79% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sussex County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sussex 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 Sussex County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Sussex County suits
Families
Schools land around the 35th percentile and crime safety beats 100%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Sussex County
Is Sussex County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sussex County ranks 187th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, low crime, and big-city access, 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 Sussex County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $384,195. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $125,733 median income, cost of living beats 97% of counties.
Is Sussex County safe?
Yes, Sussex County is safer than 100% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $117 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sussex County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 21. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 21% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sussex County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lafayette, Hopatcong, Lake Mohawk & Stanhope, and Newton & Andover. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Sussex County good for families?
Schools beat 35% of counties, crime safety beats 100%, and childcare runs $1,439 a month.
Is Sussex County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 100% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Sussex County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sussex County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sussex 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.
Sussex County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sussex County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sussex County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sussex County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sussex County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sussex 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.