The Top 14 Places To Live In NJ

NEW JERSEY - New Jersey has plenty to offer, in areas you might not even usually think about.

To find out what makes the Garden State special, you would have to look further than the latest U.S. News & World Report “Best Places to Live” in the United States list to find it. New Jersey received no love for 2025-2026, not one spot out of the 250 sites ranked around the nation.

While New Jerseyians have always took the butt of the joke and being the underdog with pride in stride, the World Report did not leave the people empty-handed. Each state also got its own rankings, with Clifton bringing home our crown.

Per U.S. News & World Report, “Cities in the rankings are evaluated using data from Applied Geographic Solutions (AGS) and U.S. News’ own internal resources. AGS develops its core database and specialized indexes from both private and government sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, the Federal Reserve and the Bureau for Economic Analysis, as well as state and local sources.”

The categories were then evaluated further by U.S. News’ own internal methodology based on a February 2025 public survey. Those polled voted for what they felt was the most important factor to consider when choosing where to live.

Here are the top 14 places to live in New Jersey:

1. Clifton, NJ
2. Vineland, NJ
3. Jersey City, NJ
4. Bayonne, NJ
5. Elizabeth, NJ
6. Passaic, NJ
7. Union City, NJ
8. New Brunswick, NJ
9. East Orange, NJ
10. Paterson, NJ
11. Newark, NJ
12. Trenton, NJ
13. Camden, NJ
14. Atlantic City, NJ

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