2018 Best Places to Retire in New JerseyAbout this List

Surf City

• Town in New Jersey
• 1

Nearby Resident: Surf City is the perfect beach town to be in during the summer. Lots of little shops, the beaches are usually clean and nice. The only thing is the traffic coming over the bridge, especially during the peak of summer. I live in a neighboring town only ten minutes away. During the winter, there is not much to do here, and many shops close.
Read 1 Review

• B+

• B+

• A

• 1,166 Population

Fort Lee

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 55

Current Resident: Fort Lee is an amazing place to grow up as it is an extremely diverse (ethnically and economically) urban setting with tons of culture, and located right next to Manhattan! There are plenty of international dining options, as well as supermarkets and a really cool movie theater, and even a pretty fun Latin nightclub.
Read 55 Reviews

• A+

• A

• A

• 36,607 Population

River Edge

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 15

Current Resident: I love River Edge. This is the first town I've lived in where I felt at home. I've lived in Westwood, Wallington, Bogota, and Maywood and none of them compare to River Edge. I've been happy here in my 9 years of living here and I'll be sad to leave when I go off to college this coming fall. The public schools are amazing the teachers work really hard to ensure safety and happiness for their students. IT's very safe with cops patrolling the streets 24 hours 7 days a week! I have connected with all of my neighbors and I'm sure whoever will move here will have an amazing experience.
Read 15 Reviews

• A+

• A+

• A

• 11,586 Population

Cliffside Park

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 27

Current Resident: Cliffside Park has always been my home. I grew up here, went through the public schooling system here since elementary school, and now it is my time to venture off into college. This town is an amazing town, and it has allowed for my personal growth. This town is very family friendly, and I appreciate all of it's town gatherings. It is fun and very ideal for building a family. It is known for it's diverse population, there's people from every country here! Commuting to NYC is about 30-40 minutes, but it's manageable.
Read 27 Reviews

• A-

• B-

• A

• 24,661 Population

Sea Girt

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 2

• A

• A+

• A

• 1,697 Population

Edgewater

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 7

Nearby Resident: Edgewater has a lot to offer...great shops, a lot of restaurants, a beautiful view of NYC! It's been an up and coming town for quite some time. The biggest downside is that it is becoming overcrowded with a lot of new construction and big buildings which bring in a lot of traffic on River Road, it's one and only main road.
Read 7 Reviews

• A+

• B+

• A

• 11,998 Population

Shrewsbury

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 17

Niche User: The safety of this area is very good. Good police force and well kept area.
Read 17 Reviews

• A

• A+

• A

• 4,000 Population

Ellisburg

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 1

Niche User: If I had to pick between where I lived as a child or where I live now I would definitely choose where I am living now.
Read 1 Review

• A-

• A-

• A

• 4,248 Population

Avon-by-the-Sea

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 7

Niche User: I would love to live in this area for a majority of my life. I do plan to move out west for the warm weather during the winter, but with out a doubt I will have a summer home here!
Read 7 Reviews

• A

• A

• A

• 1,846 Population

Leonia

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 38

Current Resident: Leonia is one of those towns where everyone knows everybody, and not at all too creepy! In fact, all residents take interest and pride in community events as well as support any achievements through high school students, middle schoolers, and the adults. The best part about Leonia is the cultural influence and the variety in all social events. However, in recent years Leonia has assimilated with bordering towns which I fear hurts the culture. Otherwise, for the past thirteen years of my life, Leonia has kept me safe, loved, and cultured.
Read 38 Reviews

• A+

• A+

• A

• 9,137 Population

Washington Township

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 11

Parent: My town is a close knit community. The people are all friendly and helpful. The high school experience was rewarding, we won two straight championships in football and it set me up for a great college, WPI.
Read 11 Reviews

• A

• A

• A

• 9,313 Population

Berkeley Heights Township

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 18

Current Resident: The Berkeley Heights Township is a small suburban town located between Central and North Jersey. Within our community, we hold one of New Jersey's best education systems. Many of our high school graduates have done successful by attending our schools. The area is family friendly and has a variety of locations to enjoy your day, like a picnic at Snyder Park or a nice cool down at one of our two pools. Berkeley Heights contains many family owned businesses and has plenty of history. Nearly less then 10 minutes away is the Watchung Reservation. The "resz" is a place were the Native Americans from years ago sheltered and lived their lives. Here in BH we have multiple restaurants such as Delicious Heights, Dominoes, Hop Hing and East, La Rosa and many more. Coming to Berkeley Heights will leave you with a positive impact!
Read 18 Reviews

• A+

• A+

• A

• 13,387 Population

Margate City

• Town in New Jersey
• 10

Current Resident: I love Margate! The beach and bay are both very close to the center of town. Everything is within walking or biking distance. You don't need to leave town to go to the grocery store, convenience store, gas station, restaurants, pharmacy, or entertainment. Also, public transportation is convinient for trips to Philadelphia, New York and many other cities.
Read 10 Reviews

• B+

• A

• A

• 6,250 Population

Fairview

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 2

Niche User: After living in the same town my whole life, I couldn't fully appreciate it until I left home for college. Living minutes from the Shore and the beautiful beaches, with amazing views of New York City a reasonable drive away, with Philly just a little farther in the opposite direction. Nothing can compare to the food, the atmosphere and the people where I grew up and will forever call home.
Read 2 Reviews

• A

• A-

• A

• 3,842 Population

Haddon Heights

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 27

Current Resident: This is a very good town. We have events like the Harvest Fest. and Hoots and Howls. We are a very family friendly town, as a lot of this town has families. I feel very safe in this town, as we have a very good police department and a fire department. The public school system here is above average. The houses here at Haddon Heights are very pretty as most of them have character. We also have beautiful parks that include a frisbee-golf course, and an outdoor theater. These parks are perfect for a stroll, bike ride, or to walk a dog. Lastly, Haddon Heights is a very nice town filled with extremely nice people.
Read 27 Reviews

• A

• B+

• A

• 7,506 Population

Englewood Cliffs

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 3

Current Resident: A small town that is very nice. Many people are friends with each other due to the smaller population.
Read 3 Reviews

• A

• A

• A

• 5,405 Population

Rochelle Park Township

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 12

Current Resident: My experiences with my neighborhood of Rochelle Park has been amazing to say the least. The community is friendly caring and very much in-tuned with each other as though we were family, one big happy neighborhood family, so much so that we are all connected via social media. Everyone is familiar with each others backgrounds from family to professions, down to the local business owners and police officers who by the way continuously keep watch of its residents. The streets are clean and constantly being maintained, trash and recyclables picked up regularly, and above all everyone maintains their lawns so visual appeal is top notch for oncoming visitors. Crime non existent because as stated before our local police officers are on heavy duty watch 24/7. So to conclude my rating I would have to say on a scale from 1-10 Rochelle Park receives an 11.
If I had to change something, it would have to be the no left turn rule which can get frustrating at times.
Read 12 Reviews

• A-

• A-

• A

• 5,634 Population

Avalon

• Town in New Jersey

• A-

• A-

• A

• 1,421 Population

Verona Township

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 8

Current Resident: Beautiful town with an amazing park, citizens are friendly and area is safe. A nice selection of restaurants as well and the surrounding areas are also suburban.
Read 8 Reviews

• A

• A

• A

• 13,481 Population

Cedar Grove Township

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 28

Current Resident: Amazing town! This is probably one of the best places to raise a family. The public education is spectacular. The teachers and staff are great and know what they are doing. The housing is amazing. There are great apartment complexes on one side of the town, average-sized houses on the other side of the town, and the mansions are on the hills. There are also small houses for one or two people.
Read 28 Reviews

• A-

• A-

• A

• 12,545 Population

Paramus

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 42

Current Resident: I enjoy the park and accessible it is to have many stores within the area. You have Bergen Mall, Paramus Park Mall, and Garden State Plaza Mall. Near to where I live there are many small stores such as a Dunkin' Donuts. As well, you have an easy access to go on the highway and drive to New York. Every town has its wonderful characteristics but no town is perfect. Some improvements would be their public schools-whether Elementary, Middle, or Upper/High Schools can definitely use improvement.
Read 42 Reviews

• A

• A

• A

• 26,795 Population

Midland Park

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 12

Current Resident: Midland Park is a very blue collar town. I lived in Allendale the town right over and you can see the difference between the type of people who live there. The town itself is quiet by it is a change from the up tight and wealthy Bergen county residents. The people are middle class and hard working which is different because it borders Ridgewood and Allendale towns with high income-based residents.
Read 12 Reviews

• A

• A

• A

• 7,283 Population

Beach Haven

• Town in New Jersey

• B+

• B+

• A

• 1,022 Population

Haworth

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 2

Current Resident: Haworth is a small town surrounded by Dumont,Closter,Emerson, Demarest and Oradell. If you blink you might miss it. Lived here for almost two years and it's been nice. Quiet town and very relaxing. Not much shopping in town. It is however, surrounded by other towns with many shopping amenities. There is a small business district with some decent stores, hardware, post office, quick mart, dry cleaner, Italian, cafe, liquor store, florist, apothecary, etc. Some charming aspects of the town are the duck pond, the deer roaming around(not too bad), lush greenery of surrounding Haworth country club and the little overpass bridge. Not much diversity but we have easy access to NYC through the 186, 177x through the Massachusetts ave stop. Driving to NYC is even shorter. If you are looking for a quaint, safe town with good schools to raise your family, it's a good choice. Housing is expensive but there are entry level houses with a decent size available. We are happy here!
Read 2 Reviews

• A+

• A+

• A

• 3,446 Population

Oradell

• Suburb in New Jersey
• 16

Current Resident: Oradell is very clean town. Everyone is pretty nice to each other. However, taxes are too expensive! Also, the quality of education should be improved.
Read 16 Reviews

• A+

• A+

• A

• 8,160 Population