MORRISTOWN –– Think your town is pretty great? Let’s see where it ranked in a recent poll.
New Jersey Monthly magazine Feb. 21 published its annual list of the state’s best places to live.
The magazine got researchers from Monmouth University’s Polling Institute to rate all 566 municipalities in eight quality-of-life categories: property taxes, home values, population growth, land development, employment, crime rate, school performance, and proximity to services.
Researchers relied on available census and other data including student proficiency scores, open space preservation and the number of acute-care hospitals within ten miles.
According to the magazine, a statistical standardization technique was used to rank the municipalities according to the eight indicators; an average of the eight numerical values for each municipality determined its final rank.
As for Cape May County municipalities, Upper Township was the best finishing second overall to Chatham Township, Morris County.
Dennis Township was the next best place to live in this county finishing 20th on the statewide list.
Other local towns finishing in the top 100 were Lower Township (34), Cape May Point (42) and Cape May (56).
Those not faring so well included Wildwood Crest (443), Sea Isle City (462) and Wildwood (520).
Best Places to Live in Cape May County
(Taken from NJ Monthly magazine ranking)
Rank Town
2 Upper Township
20 Dennis Township
34 Lower Township
42 Cape May Point
56 Cape May
153 Ocean City
154 Stone Harbor
188 Avalon
209 West Wildwood
243 Woodbine
276 North Wildwood
278 Middle Township
335 West Cape May
443 Wildwood Crest
462 Sea Isle City
520 Wildwood
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com
