Long Valley Earns Spot In NJ’s ‘Best Places To Live’—Here’s How It Ranked

LONG VALLEY, NJ — Living in Long Valley just got good marks — Niche.com gave the township an “B+” in its latest rankings of the best places to live.

Niche.com, which ranks school districts and locales across the nation through various criteria, unveiled its annual Best Places to Live in New Jersey rankings last week and placed Long Valley in the top half of the list.

Washington Township was ranked the 307th best place to live in New Jersey for 2025, according to Niche, out of 639 towns evaluated statewide. In Morris County, Mountain Lakes earned the highest ranking at No. 10, followed by Chatham Township at No. 20.

In New Jersey, Long Valley ranks 117th among the "Places with the Best Public Schools" and 252nd for "Best Places to Raise a Family," according to Niche.

Now in its 11th year, Niche’s data-driven rankings are designed to help individuals at all life stages—from young professionals and families to retirees—make informed decisions about where to live. The annual report evaluates communities of all sizes, including large cities, suburbs, and neighborhoods across the country.

Washington Township received an overall Niche grade of B+ for 2025. Here's how Niche graded Bernards in the following categories:

• Public Schools: A
• Housing: C
• Nightlife: C+
• Good for Families: A-
• Diversity: B
• Jobs: B
• Weather: B-
• Cost of Living: C
• Health & Fitness: A-
• Outdoor Activities: B+
• Commute: B-

Niche combines millions of resident reviews with data from sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read more about Niche's methodology.

However, rankings like Niche’s have drawn criticism, including from some of the very agencies that provide the underlying data. The FBI, which supplies crime statistics used in the analysis, has cautioned against using the data to directly compare one community to another.

"Data users should not rank locales because there are many factors that cause the nature and type of crime to vary from place to place," the FBI says. "UCR (uniform crime reporting) statistics include only jurisdictional population figures along with reported crime, clearance, or arrest data. Rankings ignore the uniqueness of each locale."