Best PlacesWest Milford, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Milford, 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.
West Milford ranks 4,854th 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 West Milford
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.
West Milford's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Milford ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$133,217 median, better than 95% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
Where West Milford ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,458 a month, better than only 5% of towns
- Short commute37.3 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Milford
A household needs to earn about $124,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Milford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $133,217, 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 West Milford'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 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 West Milford
West Milford runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Milford.
Who works in West Milford, and how
Work in West Milford centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in West Milford
West Milford has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of West Milford and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Milford, month by month
West Milford sees roughly 68 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 West Milford
Newark Liberty International sits about 30 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 West Milford
Schools across West Milford average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Paradise Knoll Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Apshawa Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Maple Road Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Macopin Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- West Milford High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Milford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Milford 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 West Milford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Milford
Is West Milford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Milford ranks 4,854th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, fast internet, and high incomes, 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 West Milford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $383,855. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $133,217 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is West Milford safe?
Yes, West Milford is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $158 per resident a year.
Compare West Milford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Milford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Milford 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.
West Milford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Milford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Milford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Milford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Milford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Milford 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.