When ranking the most family-friendly towns in NJ, we weighed factors like school quality, safety, affordability and diversity, among other things. Here are the 10 towns that topped our list in Salem County in 2019:
- Upper Pittsgrove
- Woodstown
- Alloway Township
- Quinton
- Pennsville
- Pilesgrove
- Lower Alloways Creek
- Mannington
- Carneys Point
- Oldmans Township
About Upper Pittsgrove
This Salem County town’s 40 square miles of rolling green farmland, teeming with livestock and crops, is one reason Jersey’s referred to as the Garden State. This town leads NJ in farmland preservation (10,200 acres worth) and boasts 17,569 acres dedicated to agriculture.
Future ballplayers can run around the town’s diamonds or practice their footwork on the soccer fields. Nature lovers can visit Daretown Lake in Elmer for fishing or boating, or hit the Elephant Swamp Trail with their bikes, which spans Elmer to Elk Twp. Every spring, the school gym is available for Family Recreation Nights, where residents play basketball, ping pong, volleyball and more.
Tots and tweens spend their days at Upper Pittsgrove School while older kids hit the books at Woodstown High School. The home of the Wolverines offers some pretty cool group activities like coloring, video games, tabletop games and even an open-mic night.
Hit The Store and Hawg’s Breath BBQ for delicious sandwiches in the off-season and authentic BBQ over the summer. Grab a milkshake, a basket of nachos filled with brisket and dig into a chicken cheesesteak. Fun fact? It’s a dry town (meaning alcohol can’t be sold) except for one winery and one distillery.
