Visual story
Twin towns, different price tags
Each pair below is as alike as any two New Jersey towns get on the six measures in grey: what households earn, the kind of homes, how many own, how old the housing is, the commute, the household size. Yet one twin’s homes cost up to 1.9 times the other’s. The gap is everything those measures leave out: the schools, the train, the water, the name.
The pricier twinThe cheaper twin
- Income $110,380 · $91,302Detached 76% · 77%Owners 77% · 72%Pre-1940 17% · 19%Commute 27 min · 27 minHousehold 2.4 · 2.5Rochelle Park township $618,650 against Runnemede borough $321,637Runnemede boroughRochelle Park township1.9×
- Income $144,349 · $130,239Detached 85% · 78%Owners 83% · 86%Pre-1940 6% · 4%Commute 31 min · 30 minHousehold 2.9 · 2.9Paramus borough $1,062,705 against South Plainfield borough $580,955South Plainfield boroughParamus borough1.8×
- Income $230,611 · $211,538Detached 93% · 97%Owners 83% · 88%Pre-1940 4% · 5%Commute 36 min · 36 minHousehold 2.6 · 2.8Englewood Cliffs borough $1,799,397 against Mountainside borough $1,050,443Mountainside boroughEnglewood Cliffs borough1.7×
- Income $173,672 · $157,969Detached 76% · 81%Owners 84% · 88%Pre-1940 5% · 5%Commute 34 min · 34 minHousehold 2.7 · 2.6Watchung borough $1,068,988 against Medford township $626,686Medford townshipWatchung borough1.7×
- Income $100,718 · $90,706Detached 41% · 45%Owners 60% · 57%Pre-1940 44% · 46%Commute 27 min · 25 minHousehold 2.6 · 2.6Ridgefield Park village $606,290 against Merchantville borough $356,881Merchantville boroughRidgefield Park village1.7×
- Income $141,716 · $154,923Detached 74% · 71%Owners 76% · 72%Pre-1940 15% · 16%Commute 30 min · 29 minHousehold 2.4 · 2.5Point Pleasant Beach borough $1,138,006 against Morris Plains borough $728,657Morris Plains boroughPoint Pleasant Beach borough1.6×
- Income $109,679 · $98,828Detached 56% · 65%Owners 59% · 62%Pre-1940 28% · 27%Commute 26 min · 26 minHousehold 2.6 · 2.6Roselle Park borough $542,422 against Woodstown borough $350,297Woodstown boroughRoselle Park borough1.5×
- Income $235,795 · $229,806Detached 88% · 85%Owners 89% · 89%Pre-1940 2% · 9%Commute 37 min · 38 minHousehold 2.9 · 3.0Franklin Lakes borough $1,628,296 against Livingston township $1,093,692Livingston townshipFranklin Lakes borough1.5×
- Income $115,625 · $106,130Detached 79% · 78%Owners 82% · 82%Pre-1940 7% · 3%Commute 29 min · 28 minHousehold 2.4 · 2.5Point Pleasant borough $766,586 against Brick township $521,655Brick townshipPoint Pleasant borough1.5×
- Income $239,188 · $237,132Detached 97% · 95%Owners 93% · 90%Pre-1940 21% · 19%Commute 45 min · 44 minHousehold 3.0 · 3.0Rumson borough $2,394,222 against Fair Haven borough $1,641,055Fair Haven boroughRumson borough1.5×
- Income $125,313 · $119,583Detached 83% · 79%Owners 94% · 90%Pre-1940 17% · 15%Commute 31 min · 30 minHousehold 2.7 · 2.7North Haledon borough $717,130 against Mine Hill township $497,064Mine Hill townshipNorth Haledon borough1.4×
- Income $152,414 · $138,854Detached 97% · 97%Owners 96% · 95%Pre-1940 9% · 12%Commute 32 min · 34 minHousehold 2.8 · 2.7Ringwood borough $608,323 against Byram township $456,125Byram townshipRingwood borough1.3×
Alike: each town’s nearest neighbour on the six measures, each scaled to its spread across all towns, kept only where the two are close; then ordered by the price gap. Measures: the Census Bureau’s five-year American Community Survey. Price: Zillow’s typical home value. Survey figures carry margins of error, wide in small towns. More visual stories →