Best PlacesWayne, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wayne, 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.
Wayne ranks 289th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wayne
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.
Wayne's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wayne ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of cities
- Household income$162,419 median, better than 94% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of cities
Where Wayne ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,458 a month, better than only 20% of cities
- Short commute28.7 minutes each way, better than only 32% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Wayne
A household needs to earn about $186,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wayne home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $162,419, 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 Wayne's effective rate of 2.18%, 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 Wayne
Wayne runs older 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 Wayne.
Who works in Wayne, and how
Work in Wayne centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Wayne
Wayne has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of cities and more parkland per resident than 94% of cities. The coast is about 36 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Wayne and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Wayne, month by month
Wayne sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Wayne
Newark Liberty International sits about 18 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 Wayne
Schools across Wayne average a B−, better than 50% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Albert Payson Terhune ElementaryB · 46% proficient
- Theunis Dey Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Pines Lake Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pequannock Valley SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Schuyler Colfax Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Anthony Wayne Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Diana C. Lobosco Stem AcademyA− · 66% proficient
- West Essex High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Wayne Valley High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wayne school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wayne 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 Wayne against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Wayne suits
Families
Schools land around the 50th percentile and crime safety beats 69%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Wayne
Is Wayne a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wayne ranks 289th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on big-city access, fast internet, and high incomes, 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 Wayne expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $597,578. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $162,419 median income, cost of living beats 89% of cities.
Is Wayne safe?
Yes, Wayne is safer than 69% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $193 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wayne?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 24. That works out to about 60 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of cities.
Is Wayne good for families?
Schools beat 50% of cities, crime safety beats 69%, and childcare runs $1,458 a month.
Compare Wayne with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wayne. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wayne 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.
Wayne detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wayne: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wayne: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wayne: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wayne: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wayne 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.