The 10 Worst Newark Suburbs For 2023


We used data and Friday Night Science to identify the worst suburbs of Newark for 2023. The worst Newark suburbs are Morristown and Perth Amboy.

The suburbs of Newark call to all types of people looking to escape city live. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Newark to avoid all the hustle and bustle.

So the question arises, do the suburbs maintain a semblance of the larger-than-life appeal of their more famous neighbor?

Today, we’ll use science and data to determine which Newark ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Newark area if you will. Realistically, you can’t expect all the suburbs to live up to Newark proper, although East Williston certainly tries.

Of course, not all suburbs of Newark are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones..

We examined the 215 biggest suburbs of Newark to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in New Jersey lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Newark in terms of quality of life.

What’s the worst suburb of Newark? Morristown ranks as the worst suburb of Newark for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

Read on to see how we determined the places around Newark that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don’t blame the messenger.

Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in New Jersey check out the best places in New Jersey overall or the worst.

And remember, there are some good places to live around Newark too.



For more New Jersey reading, check out:

The 10 Worst Newark Suburbs To Live For 2023

Morristown, NJ

Overall SnackAbility

2
/10

Population: 30,387
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $36,495 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.4% (24th highest)
Median Home Value: $121,900 (3rd lowest)
More on Morristown:  Data | Photos

We’ll get the ball rolling with Morristown, the absolute worst place to live around Newark according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Morristown beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 3rd worst in the Newark area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 3rd worst when it comes to home values.

But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Morristown.

You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area, there aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.

Perth Amboy, NJ

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 55,046
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 2)
Median Income: $53,750 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.7% (12th highest)
Median Home Value: $282,600 (14th lowest)
More on Perth Amboy:  Data | Photos

Welcome to Perth Amboy. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.

This city is 15.0 miles to Newark. Income levels here are the 10th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $53,750 a year, which doesn’t go a long ways even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

Plainfield, NJ

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 54,183
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $63,750 (16th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.1% (10th highest)
Median Home Value: $287,300 (18th lowest)
More on Plainfield:  Data | Photos

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Newark suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Plainfield on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.

In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school drop out rate is poor compared to other Newark suburbs.

But at least there are nice parks to bring the kids during the day.

Paterson, NJ

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 157,927
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Median Income: $48,540 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.3% (15th highest)
Median Home Value: $269,200 (11th lowest)
More on Paterson:  Data | Photos

If you live in Paterson, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 5th lowest Newark suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 15th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Newark. Remember, we looked at 215 cities for this study.

Paterson is about 13.2 miles to downtown.

Dover, NJ

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 18,418
Rank Last Year: 15 (Up 10)
Median Income: $69,434 (25th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.2% (44th highest)
Median Home Value: $275,400 (12th lowest)
More on Dover:  Data | Photos

Dover has the distinction of being a Newark suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Dover has the 12th lowest home values in the metro Newark area, where the median price is $275,400. To put that into perspective, in East Williston, the median income is $250,001, which is the best in the area.

Dover has an unemployment rate of 7.23% which ranks 44th worst.

New Brunswick, NJ

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 55,671
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 3)
Median Income: $49,338 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.5% (62nd highest)
Median Home Value: $265,700 (9th lowest)
More on New Brunswick:  Data | Photos

New Brunswick has 55,671 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)

Incomes are towards the bottom and the poverty rate sits at 35.27630259986776%.

Passaic, NJ

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 70,308
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $49,436 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.7% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $347,900 (46th lowest)
More on Passaic:  Data | Photos

Ah, Passaic. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Newark.

It’s the place with the 3rd most out of work residents in the Newark metro area (11.71%).

East Orange, NJ

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 68,918
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 1)
Median Income: $54,520 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.9% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $244,100 (5th lowest)
More on East Orange:  Data | Photos

East Orange is a city about 3.5 miles from Newark, but Newark probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You’d be hard pressed to find a worse place to live. East Orange has the 25th most uninsured people, 12th worst incomes, and has the 2nd highest unemployment rate (11.85%) in the entire Newark metro area.

Homes only cost $244,100 for a reason. That’s cheap for Newark standards.

North Plainfield, NJ

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 22,635
Rank Last Year: 16 (Up 7)
Median Income: $76,355 (38th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.3% (16th highest)
Median Home Value: $285,000 (16th lowest)
More on North Plainfield:  Data | Photos

If you absolutely have to live near Newark, then North Plainfield might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Newark suburb.

About 9.32% of residents are out of work.

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 3,021
Rank Last Year: 28 (Up 18)
Median Income: $60,048 (15th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.9% (36th highest)
Median Home Value: $303,400 (25th lowest)
More on East Newark:  Data

Rounding out the ten worst Newark suburbs to call home is East Newark.

Located 2.0 miles outside the city, East Newarks is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 36th highest unemployment rate (7.86%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Newark for 2023

To figure out how bad a Newark suburb is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2017-2021, this is the criteria we used:

  • High unemployment rate
  • Low median household incomes
  • Low population density (no things to do)
  • Low home values
  • A lot of high school drop outs
  • High poverty
  • High rate of uninsured families

FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Newark.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 215 suburbs to evaluate around Newark.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 215 in each category, where 1 was the “worst”.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index the “Worst Suburb near Newark.” We’re lookin’ at you, Morristown.

Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in the worst of the worst. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from worst to best.

Editor’s Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out we updated this article for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Newark.

Summary: The areas around Newark where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2023

Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Newark with Morristown casting itself ahead of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Newark aren’t all bad. East Williston takes the cake as the best place to live around Newark.

  • East Williston
  • East Hills
  • Essex Fells

For more New Jersey reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst Newark Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Morristown 30,387 $36,495 $121,900
2 Perth Amboy 55,046 $53,750 $282,600
3 Plainfield 54,183 $63,750 $287,300
4 Paterson 157,927 $48,540 $269,200
5 Dover 18,418 $69,434 $275,400
6 New Brunswick 55,671 $49,338 $265,700
7 Passaic 70,308 $49,436 $347,900
8 East Orange 68,918 $54,520 $244,100
9 North Plainfield 22,635 $76,355 $285,000
10 East Newark 3,021 $60,048 $303,400
11 South River 16,087 $82,031 $322,200
12 Carteret 25,077 $74,583 $284,200
13 Prospect Park 6,301 $51,618 $296,100
14 Elizabeth 135,772 $54,415 $314,500
15 Linden 43,387 $80,200 $307,200
16 Guttenberg 11,833 $65,532 $316,100
17 Hempstead 58,532 $74,680 $358,200
18 West New York 52,485 $65,913 $363,800
19 Fairview 14,918 $54,904 $429,600
20 Fairview 14,918 $54,904 $429,600
21 Fairview 14,918 $54,904 $429,600
22 Fairview 14,918 $54,904 $429,600
23 Spring Valley 32,953 $49,106 $305,700
24 Roselle 22,511 $68,369 $249,700
25 Hackensack 45,723 $73,716 $302,200
26 Kearny 41,790 $76,647 $359,800
27 Wharton 7,175 $89,056 $307,200
28 Greenville 12,785 $42,091 $106,900
29 Bound Brook 11,799 $69,491 $289,100
30 Keansburg 9,781 $76,101 $213,500
31 Keyport 7,204 $66,025 $302,700
32 Rahway 29,582 $81,368 $293,300
33 South Bound Brook 4,818 $83,986 $275,900
34 Englewood 29,129 $91,164 $410,200
35 Spotswood 8,163 $92,527 $317,700
36 Elmwood Park 21,239 $75,091 $376,700
37 Woodland Park 13,265 $84,729 $390,400
38 Harrison 18,824 $68,494 $366,400
39 Bloomingdale 7,759 $116,305 $326,900
40 Garfield 32,481 $66,296 $372,900
41 Yonkers 209,730 $72,403 $420,000
42 Ridgefield Park 13,202 $86,502 $388,600
43 Lodi 25,983 $70,821 $393,500
44 Mount Vernon 72,855 $68,300 $380,500
45 Rockaway 6,587 $90,048 $356,700
46 Bayonne 70,553 $72,839 $359,800
47 Kenilworth 8,377 $107,316 $384,700
48 Little Ferry 10,973 $77,368 $361,800
49 South Amboy 9,320 $93,859 $322,100
50 Raritan 7,993 $90,125 $369,400
51 Wallington 11,833 $75,410 $396,300
52 Airmont 9,964 $98,750 $575,300
53 Union 6,832 $64,858 $113,200
54 Sayreville 45,062 $89,600 $334,600
55 Middlesex 14,513 $90,162 $333,200
56 New Square 9,433 $24,881 $552,200
57 Clifton 89,460 $86,616 $369,800
58 New Rochelle 80,685 $87,159 $578,000
59 Haledon 8,936 $94,146 $303,600
60 Elmsford 5,176 $110,894 $472,100
61 New York 8,736,047 $70,663 $660,700
62 Dunellen 7,580 $81,525 $296,300
63 Red Bank 12,825 $80,781 $414,900
64 Chestnut Ridge 10,211 $98,203 $577,800
65 Helmetta 2,365 $100,273 $254,900
66 Jersey City 287,146 $81,390 $437,200
67 Manville 10,861 $79,766 $266,800
68 Island Park 4,901 $84,183 $433,500
69 Glen Cove 28,187 $81,693 $535,100
70 Palisades Park 20,291 $76,297 $604,500
71 Lincoln Park 10,877 $105,299 $353,500
72 Ridgefield 11,477 $93,045 $457,300
73 Boonton 8,770 $85,948 $416,300
74 Jamesburg 5,784 $93,000 $285,900
75 Highlands 4,669 $82,456 $339,400
76 Moonachie 3,079 $83,125 $373,500
77 Roselle Park 13,973 $85,427 $319,400
78 Somerville 12,453 $92,995 $346,300
79 Cliffside Park 25,515 $89,387 $470,500
80 North Haledon 8,893 $107,250 $429,800
81 East Rutherford 9,918 $86,592 $402,800
82 Suffern 11,376 $87,480 $309,400
83 Kaser 5,433 $26,525 $1,057,700
84 Carlstadt 6,358 $108,479 $428,800
85 Bergenfield 28,282 $111,851 $386,900
86 Wanaque 11,285 $102,977 $324,800
87 Pompton Lakes 11,113 $100,906 $338,500
88 Highland Park 14,947 $85,652 $377,100
89 Secaucus 21,439 $125,246 $490,700
90 North Arlington 16,339 $94,012 $388,100
91 Fort Lee 39,701 $92,456 $356,200
92 Hasbrouck Heights 12,120 $102,639 $448,300
93 South Plainfield 24,251 $114,293 $362,200
94 Butler 8,019 $103,018 $354,600
95 Union Beach 5,781 $114,028 $310,200
96 Bernardsville 7,862 $200,375 $666,000
97 Manorhaven 6,923 $89,341 $571,200
98 Maywood 10,049 $99,832 $417,200
99 New Milford 16,912 $98,992 $442,000
100 Garwood 4,425 $92,981 $409,800