We recently compiled a list of the 20 Best Affordable Places to Live in New Jersey and in this article, we will talk about the best affordable place to live in New Jersey.

New Jersey: An Overview

New Jersey is the forty-sixth largest state by area in the United States. It has an area of 7,352.9 square miles and shares borders with Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania. According to the data from the United States Census Bureau, in 2020, New Jersey had a population of almost 9.28 million and 3.76 million housing units. In 2022, there were 3.51 million total households in New Jersey and the median household income was calculated to be $96,346 per household. The community in New Jersey is diverse with 32.3% of households that speak languages other than English at home. In 2022, the median age of residents was calculated to be 40.4 years.

The majority of the people living in New Jersey are educated. In 2022, 43.5% of the population had a bachelor’s degree or higher and the employment rate was 62.7%. Furthermore, it has a 66.5% school enrollment rate. 14.5% of the workforce comprises local, state, and federal government workers. The remaining population of employees is spread across various industries. In 2022, educational services, health care, and social assistance were the most dominant industries employing almost 24.1% of the workers in New Jersey. The professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste management service industry employed 14.7% and the finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing consisted 8.6% of the workforce. In 2021, there were 233,950 employer establishments in New Jersey.

In 2022, the median gross rent in New Jersey was $1,555 which is relatively higher compared to the median gross rent in the United States, $1,300. The house ownership rate in the area is 64.6%. The numbers are constantly rising. 14.4% of the householders both owners and renters had moved 2021 or later into occupied housing units in New Jersey.

Healthcare: Industry Sector Highlight

Healthcare is one of the key sectors in New Jersey. According to the data from the official site of the state of New Jersey, in 2022, the healthcare industry had 483,200 jobs. The total amount of wages paid to the workers in the healthcare industry accounted for a staggering $34.9 billion. The wages paid in the healthcare industry made up 12.4% of the total wages paid in the private sector in New Jersey. The significance of the industry can also be gauged by the contribution to the overall Gross Domestic Product of the state. It contributed 7.6% to the overall GDP which corresponded to $49.4 billion. The share of healthcare jobs in New Jersey has been consistently surging. Based on historical data, the share of healthcare jobs surged from 7.5% in 1990 to 11.8% in 2022.

Quest Diagnostics Inc (NYSE:DGX) is one of the biggest New Jersey companies and a notable player in the healthcare industry. It offers diagnostic services by deriving insights from one of the largest databases of clinical lab results. The company aims to identify and treat diseases and improve healthcare management. The company serves one in three Americans every year and has a strong workforce of 50,000 employees.

The company is exploring avenues to incorporate the latest technologies including artificial intelligence in its services. On June 11, the company announced the completion of its acquisition of PathAI Diagnostics. The acquisition will allow the company to enhance AI applications and digital pathology in disease diagnosis. PathAI will remain independent, focusing on AI solutions for biopharma and pathology labs. The company has converted the PathAI Diagnostics lab in Memphis into a national R&D center for Quest’s specialty pathology services naming it AmeriPath. The company will license PathAI’s AISight system which is a digital pathology image management system. PathAI’s AISight will support the company’s pathology laboratories and customer sites in the United States. The company is also a preferred partner of lab services for PathAI’s biopharmaceutical clients. The companies will keep collaborating to develop AI algorithms for research and clinical applications.

Quest Diagnostics Inc (NYSE:DGX) is focused on operational improvements and is using artificial intelligence to improve the quality of services. Mergers and acquisitions are the key strategic tools being utilized in this regard. Here are some comments from Quest Diagnostics Inc.’s (NYSE:DGX) Q1 2024 earnings call:

“Our M&A pipeline continues to be robust, and we are making progress with several promising opportunities. In Hospital Lab Services, we grew base business revenues by mid-single digits. Hospital reference testing, in particular, continued to grow faster than pre-pandemic trends, maintaining the momentum from last year. Hospitals are sending us more reference testing, largely because of our innovation, our quality, and our value. They also face persistent challenges with staffing certain roles in specialized fields like histology, microbiology, and cytotechnology, which we can more easily fill with our talent and our technology. In general, as hospitals face both staffing and cost challenges, they continue to reevaluate their lab strategies. Additionally, as the cost of capital continues to rise, some are revisiting their investment priorities and are directing more capital into other clinical areas that generate better returns.”

The presence of promising companies, employment opportunities, quality healthcare, and education make New Jersey an attractive option for people willing to relocate. The cultural scene and scenic beauty make it an attractive option for visitors and tourists as well. You can also read the 15 Best Places to Retire in New Jersey.

Our Methodology 

To make our list of the 20 best affordable places to live in New Jersey, we initially compiled a list of the 40 best places to live in New Jersey by sifting through 5 online rankings. After making the list, we turned to Reddit to conduct a sentiment analysis and found 15 high-engagement threads that mentioned the best places to live in New Jersey. We have only used threads with at least 100 comments for our ranking. After reading all the comments, we aggregated and tabulated the number of upvotes for each place. We have only included places with at least 100 upvotes in our list.

After making the initial list, we then checked the average house value for each place on Zillow to gauge the affordability aspect of these places. The average house value is our primary metric and the number of upvotes is our secondary metric. The list has been arranged in the descending order of the primary metric.

Note: This list is not exhaustive and does not reflect our opinion. The ranking is solely based on the opinions of Reddit users. Also, note that we have included places located in the suburbs of New Jersey.

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The Best Affordable Place to Live in New Jersey

1. Highland Park

Average House Value: $530,855

Upvotes: 102

Highland Park is a borough located in Middlesex County in New Jersey. It is the best affordable place to live in New Jersey. It has the perfect amalgamation of residential, commercial, and academic elements. Hambletonian Park and Overlook at Highland Park are among the most distinguished neighborhoods in the area. It also has a strong community that is diverse and welcoming. Rutgers University, one of the best universities in the world, is also located in Highland Park. It has proximity to New York City which makes it a favorable option for people living in the city. In 2024, the average house value in Highland Park is $530,855. The average house value in Highland Park has increased 10.7%  compared to last year. Donaldson Park and Merriwold Castle are popular attractions in the area.

Interested to see other best affordable places to live in New Jersey? Head over to our free detailed report on the 20 Best Affordable Places to Live in New Jersey.

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