Complete town-by-town guide to all 22 Essex County NJ municipalities — Short Hills' $2.8M trophy market to Newark's urban core. Median $640K.
Every Essex County municipality — from Short Hills' $3M trophy estates to Newark's urban core — covered by The Prodigy Team. Click any town below to see median pricing, schools, history, and current listings.
Founded March 7, 1683 — NJ's second-most populous county, named after Essex, England. From Short Hills' $3M trophy market to Newark's 305,000-resident urban core, no other NJ county packs more market diversity into 126 square miles.
From Millburn/Short Hills at $2.8M to Irvington at $385K — a $2.4M spread. The widest single-county range in northern New Jersey. Click any town to open its full neighborhood page.
Essex County's $2.4M price spread organizes into five distinct submarkets — from the trophy hills of Millburn and Essex Fells, through the walkable Montclair belt, to Newark's 305,000-resident urban core.
Where Essex County's $2M-$5M+ inventory trades. Short Hills, Essex Fells, and the top of the Caldwell and Livingston markets — the trophy estate corridor.
NJ's flagship trophy market — Millburn HS top-3 in NJ, Short Hills section reaches $5M+.
Tiny exclusive borough — West Essex Regional HS, Italianate and Tudor estate inventory.
Premium Caldwell-adjacent borough — substantial estate inventory, West Essex Regional.
Top-10 NJ school district, substantial family-tier and luxury inventory range.
The Caldwells + the West Orange-Verona-Roseland-Fairfield ring. Substantial family-tier inventory, established postwar Colonial Revival character, and the West Essex Regional HS district feeding the boroughs.
Substantial walkable corridor, West Essex Regional HS district.
Established family-tier township, Caldwell-West Caldwell schools, Passaic River.
Verona Lake, walkable Bloomfield Avenue, top-tier Verona Public Schools.
Birthplace of President Grover Cleveland — walkable Caldwell Avenue, Caldwell University.
Western Passaic River township, West Essex Regional HS, commercial corridor on Route 46.
Essex County's walkable downtown spine — Victorian and Foursquare-heavy commuter towns on the NJT Morris & Essex / Montclair-Boonton lines with one-seat rides to Manhattan.
Essex County's flagship walkable city — Montclair State, Wellmont Theater, six NJT stations.
Tiny premium borough surrounded by Montclair/Bloomfield — gas streetlamps still active.
Seton Hall University, walkable downtown, SOMSD with Maplewood (Columbia HS).
Walkable Maplewood Village downtown, substantial Tudor and Colonial Revival inventory.
Cedar Grove, Nutley, and Bloomfield — substantial mid-Essex townships bridging the West Essex premium and the urban core. Accessible-tier pricing with established suburban character.
Premium north Essex township — Cedar Grove HS, Mountain Avenue corridor.
Substantial established township, NJT Bloomfield-Montclair bus access, ON3 redevelopment.
Large mixed-character township, NJT Bloomfield station, Bloomfield Center walkable downtown.
Newark (NJ's most populous city + county seat), East Orange, Orange, Irvington, and Belleville. Essex County's most accessible entry-tier — and NYC's most direct PATH-and-NJT gateway.
Substantial historic Branch Brook township — Cherry Blossom heritage, Passaic River frontage.
Substantial historic city — NJT Morris & Essex Line, prewar high-rise inventory.
The original "Orange" — substantial walkable downtown, NJT Morris & Essex Line.
Essex County's most accessible entry-tier pricing, substantial multifamily inventory.
Millburn (Short Hills) · Livingston · Glen Ridge · Montclair · South Orange-Maplewood (SOMSD) · West Essex Regional · Verona
Millburn HS is consistently ranked top-3 in NJ; Glen Ridge, Livingston, and SOMSD are top-tier walkable downtown districts.
Essex County Schools of Technology · Three magnet campuses (Newark/West Caldwell/Bloomfield) · Specialty programs in Sciences, Performing Arts, and Vo-Tech.
Serves all 22 Essex County municipalities. Highly competitive admissions.
THE PRICE LADDER · BY CLUSTER
Millburn / Short Hills — ~$2.8M median, with the Short Hills section trading $4M-$8M+ for trophy inventory. Essex Fells (~$1.8M), Montclair (~$1.2M), and North Caldwell (~$1.2M) complete the top four. Glen Ridge, Livingston, and Maplewood-South Orange round out Essex's premium tier.
Irvington — ~$385K median. East Orange and Orange (~$425K each), Newark (~$495K), and Belleville (~$525K) form Essex County's most accessible entry-tier corridor — all five municipalities offer direct NJT or PATH commuter access to Manhattan.
22 — across 126.09 sq mi of land. Founded March 7, 1683, Essex is one of New Jersey's earliest counties. Population 863,728 (2020) — NJ's 2nd most populous, up 10.2% from 2010 — estimated 896,379 by 2025. County seat: Newark (NJ's most populous city at 305,162 residents). Largest by both population and area.
Millburn Township (Millburn HS in Short Hills) is consistently ranked top-3 in NJ. Glen Ridge, Livingston, Montclair, South Orange-Maplewood (Columbia HS), West Essex Regional, and Verona round out the top seven. The Essex County Schools of Technology operate three magnet campuses serving all 22 municipalities, with highly competitive admissions.
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