Study ranks the best places to live in New Jersey

If you live in Princeton, congratulations. Niche.com says your town is the best place to live in New Jersey. The site, which ranks towns, neighborhoods, schools, and companies, used data from sources like the FBI, the Census Bureau, and the Department of Education to arrive at their rankings.

The towns were measured on things like cost of living, rate of higher education, housing, public schools, diversity, crime, jobs, user reviews, night life, walkability, health and fitness, outdoor activities, commute time, and more. After crunching all the data, they arrived at their Overall Niche Grade. Princeton came out on top, followed by its neighbor, Princeton Junction. They both got high scores for the schools as well as being good places to raise families.

The top ten “Best Places to Live in New Jersey” (according to Niche.com, anyway) are:

1. Princeton
2. Princeton Junction
3. Upper Montclair
4. Ridgewood
5. Mountain Lakes
6. Princeton Meadows
7. Springdale
8. Monmouth Junction
9. Westfield
10. New Providence

Jersey City was listed as the most diverse, Upper Montclair ranked as the best place to raise a family, and Princeton Junction was named the best place to buy a house. Don’t fret if you don’t live in one of the top ten, however; the top 150 towns in New Jersey listed by Niche.com got at least an “A” rating, so there are still plenty of excellent places to choose from. Also, it’s just one survey.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle. Any opinions expressed are Bill Doyle's own.