Best PlacesUnion County, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Union 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.
Union County ranks 338th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $119,535, 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 childcare costs.
The best neighborhoods in Union 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 Union County
The parts of Union 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.
Westfield
Local pay stretches further, more adults hold degrees, and incomes run higher.
Summit, New Providence & Berkeley Heights
Tree cover is thicker, though streets are more car-dependent.
Cranford & Roselle Park
More residents vote, though fewer households have young kids.
Union & Springfield
Prices have run up less and health care is easier to reach.
Rahway & Clark
Schools score lower.
Plainfield
It is quieter.
Linden
Homes cost less.
Hillside
Crime runs higher.
Elizabeth
Advertised internet is faster, though health outcomes score lower.
Union County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Union County's strengths and weaknesses
Union County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Big-city access is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Walkability and transit follow.
The one real hole is state finances, near the bottom of the country. Property taxes and childcare costs also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Union County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$119,535 median, better than 97% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of counties
Where Union County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,432 a month, better than only 4% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 7% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Union County
A household needs to earn about $172,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Union County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $119,535, 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 Union County's effective rate of 2.15%, 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 Union County
Union County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Union County.
Who works in Union County, and how
Work in Union County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Union County
Union County has more parkland per resident than 69% of counties and less late-night activity than most counties. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Union County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Union County growing, and who is moving in?
Union County has grown about 8% 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 Union County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Union County, month by month
Union County sees roughly 71 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 Union County
Newark Liberty International sits about 7 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 Union County
Schools across Union County average a C, better than 43% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Glenwood SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Wyoming SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- South Mountain SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Washington SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Roosevelt Intermediate SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle SchoolA · 59% 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 Union County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Union 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 Union County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Union County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Union County
Is Union County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Union County ranks 338th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, walkability, 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 Union County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $554,203. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $119,535 median income, cost of living beats 89% of counties.
Is Union County safe?
Union County is safer than 48% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $238 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Union County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 29. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Union County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Westfield, Summit, New Providence & Berkeley Heights, and Cranford & Roselle Park. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Union County good for families?
Schools beat 43% of counties, crime safety beats 48%, and childcare runs $1,432 a month.
Is Union County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 85% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Union County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Union County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Union 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.
Union County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Union County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Union County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Union County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Union County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Union 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.