Best PlacesUpper Greenwood Lake, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Upper Greenwood Lake, 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.
Upper Greenwood Lake ranks 8,643rd 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 Upper Greenwood Lake
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.
Upper Greenwood Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Upper Greenwood Lake ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Household income$129,645 median, better than 95% of towns
Where Upper Greenwood Lake ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute48.5 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,457 a month, better than only 5% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Upper Greenwood Lake
A household needs to earn about $125,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Upper Greenwood Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $129,645, 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 Upper Greenwood Lake's effective rate of 2.53%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Upper Greenwood Lake
Upper Greenwood Lake's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Upper Greenwood Lake.
Who works in Upper Greenwood Lake, and how
Work in Upper Greenwood Lake centers on education and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Upper Greenwood Lake
Upper Greenwood Lake has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Upper Greenwood Lake and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Upper Greenwood Lake, month by month
Upper Greenwood Lake sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Upper Greenwood Lake
The nearest airport, New York Stewart International, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 35 miles away.
The best schools in and around Upper Greenwood Lake
Schools across Upper Greenwood Lake average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sanfordville Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Upper Greenwood Lake Elementary SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Marshall Hill Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Warwick Valley Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Macopin Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- Glen Meadow Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Warwick Valley High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- West Milford High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Upper Greenwood Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Upper Greenwood Lake 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 Upper Greenwood Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Upper Greenwood Lake
Is Upper Greenwood Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Upper Greenwood Lake ranks 8,643rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, fast internet, and population health, 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 Upper Greenwood Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $386,998. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $129,645 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Upper Greenwood Lake safe?
Yes, Upper Greenwood Lake is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $158 per resident a year.
Compare Upper Greenwood Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Upper Greenwood Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Upper Greenwood Lake 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.
Upper Greenwood Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Upper Greenwood Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Upper Greenwood Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Upper Greenwood Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Upper Greenwood Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Upper Greenwood Lake 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.