Jersey City Ranked One Of Top 100 Cities To Live In U.S. What About Hoboken?

JERSEY CITY, NJ — It's got a growing restaurant scene, walkability, some competitive schools, an arts community, and beautiful parks. This year, Jersey City was the only city in New Jersey to make an annual list of the best 100 cities to live in, published by Niche.com.

Cities are ranked separately from towns. In a separate list, Niche included five New Jersey towns in the top 100 U.S. places to live.

Niche.com provides information for those looking for information on school districts.

The ninth consecutive list ranked 228 cities and 17,932 towns and neighborhoods.

Niche used data from the Census Bureau, FBI, Labor Bureau, CDC, and reviews from residents. Criteria included affordability, diversity, public schools, crime, and walkability.

The overall Best Place to Live in America is Chesterbrook, Pa., which has claimed the title now for four consecutive years. Rounding out the top five are Colonial Village, Va.; Ardmore, Pa.; Hyde Park-Spanishtown Creek, Fla.; and Penn Wynne, Pa.

The five New Jersey towns on the list were Princeton Junction, Princeton, Ho-Ho-Kus, Ridgewood, and River Edge.

Jersey City Gets Graded

When just looking at cities (rather than towns), Cambridge, Mass., was the Best City to Live in America for the first time ever. The top five were Arlington, Va.; The Woodlands, Texas; Naperville, Ill., and Columbia, Md.

Where did New Jersey come in?

In the top 100, Jersey City ranked 78th on the Best Cities to Live in America, receiving an A- grade overall.

The town got an A+ for diversity, A+ for nightlife, as well as an A for outdoor activities and an A for health and fitness. It got a B+ for "Good for families" and a B- for weather.

But it received a C+ in public schools, a C for crime and safety, a C for cost of living, and C- for housing.

Rents in the city are among the most expensive in the country, and in some buildings, tenants have had to fight large (sometimes illegal) rent increases.

What About Hoboken?

Why didn't nearby Hoboken make the list?

Apparently, it's considered a suburb of New York City. So take that, young people who thought you were too cool for the 'burbs.

On the plus side, it ranks number 15 in "Best Suburbs To Live In New Jersey" out of 418 suburbs.

Niche also has specialized lists for the best places for families, young professionals, homebuyers and retirees.

See the full rankings here.

Patch editor Michele Rotuno-Johnson contributed to this report.