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Towns / New Jersey

Watsessing, New Jersey

Watsessing is an unincorporated community of about 8,200 people in Essex County, New Jersey, in the New York area. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 4.2 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, New York, is about 16 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of New York

Population
8,232
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$435,400
Essex County prices up 28% since 2022
Household income
$103,378
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, New York area
112.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
1 mile
Belleville, NJ
To New York
16 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 12.6% above the U.S. average in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.2 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town19 public schools: 12 elementary, 3 middle and 4 high schools.
  • A hospital close byClara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, about 1 mile away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityNew York is about 16 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Watsessing meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Watsessing runs into the built-up area around New York (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$435,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 28%Essex County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$2,026 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$103,378U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
32%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$10,000 or more a yearNew Jersey: $9,590
Homes built before 1940
38%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
20%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
112.6U.S. average = 100 (the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 28% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area, not Watsessing alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
8,232The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
36.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
13%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
15%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
53%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
5%U.S.: 6%
College students
11%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (26%); professional and business services (22%); transportation, warehousing and utilities (7%)
Unemployment rate
6%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
34 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
27%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
7%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Clara Maass Medical Center, Belleville, NJ, about 1 mile away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

19 public schools in Watsessing, run by East Orange School District and Bloomfield Township School District.

Colleges in or next to town: Bloomfield College of Montclair State University (under 1,000 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on New Jersey's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
80%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
94%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
25°F
July average high
87°F
Days 90°F or hotter
31 a year
Nights at or below freezing
82 a year
Rain and melted snow
50.4 inches a year
Snow
28 inches a year
Elevation
108 feet

Weather station: Harrison (4 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Clara Maass Medical Center, East Orange, New York.

Essex County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Thomas Edison National Historical Park2 miles
  • Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park9 miles
  • Statue of Liberty National Monument10 miles
  • Castle Clinton National Monument11 miles
  • Federal Hall National Memorial11 miles

Campus life. Check Bloomfield College of Montclair State University's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Watsessing's history on Wikipedia.

Know Watsessing?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Llewellyn Park, NJ (unincorporated)560 people, 2 miles
  • Pleasantdale, NJ (unincorporated)2,145 people, 4 miles
  • Connecticut Farms, NJ (unincorporated)516 people, 7 miles
  • Kean University, NJ (unincorporated)1,362 people, 8 miles
  • Springfield, NJ (unincorporated)1,304 people, 8 miles
  • Cranford, NJ (unincorporated)1,937 people, 11 miles
  • William Paterson University of New Jersey, NJ (unincorporated)1,133 people, 11 miles
  • Green Village, NJ (unincorporated)1,130 people, 13 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.