13 communities compared — 341 shuls, 34 kosher stores and restaurants, 106 day schools and 12 mikvaos on the map.
New Jersey's Orthodox community sits in several distinct places, and they are very different choices. Ocean County is Lakewood — anchored by Beth Medrash Govoha — with Jackson and Toms River absorbing its growth as young families look for more house for less money. Bergen County, just across the George Washington Bridge, is the Modern Orthodox commuter belt: Teaneck, Bergenfield, Englewood, Fair Lawn and Fort Lee.
Between them sit Passaic and Clifton — dense, fast-growing, and meaningfully cheaper than the New York hubs — and, in Middlesex County beside Rutgers, Highland Park and Edison, which function as one community across a town line.
Two more round out the state. West Orange, in Essex County, is a Modern Orthodox commuter suburb built along Pleasant Valley Way. Cherry Hill, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, is South Jersey's center, with a kollel, several shuls and two mikvaos at prices well below North Jersey's.
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| Guide | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakewood, NJ Lakewood, NJ | 216 | 7 | 67 | 3 | $–$$ | $466k | Moving guide → |
| Passaic / Clifton Passaic / Clifton, NJ | 32 | 4 | 8 | 1 | $$ | $430k | Moving guide → |
| Toms River, NJ Lakewood, NJ | 30 | 2 | 7 | · | $–$$ | $390k | Moving guide → |
| Teaneck, NJ Bergen County, NJ | 20 | 5 | 7 | 1 | $$$ | $546k | Moving guide → |
| Englewood, NJ Bergen County, NJ | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | $$$ | $544k | Moving guide → |
| Cherry Hill Cherry Hill, NJ | 6 | · | 1 | 2 | $$ | $331k | Moving guide → |
| Fair Lawn, NJ Bergen County, NJ | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 | $$–$$$ | $565k | Moving guide → |
| Bergenfield, NJ Bergen County, NJ | 5 | 2 | 1 | · | $$–$$$ | $492k | Moving guide → |
| Highland Park, NJ Highland Park / Edison, NJ | 5 | 2 | · | 1 | $$ | $472k | Moving guide → |
| Jackson, NJ Lakewood, NJ | 4 | 4 | 4 | · | $–$$ | $486k | Moving guide → |
| West Orange West Orange, NJ | 4 | · | · | 1 | $$$ | $557k | Moving guide → |
| Edison, NJ Highland Park / Edison, NJ | 3 | · | 3 | · | $$ | $431k | Moving guide → |
| Fort Lee, NJ Bergen County, NJ | 3 | · | · | 1 | $$–$$$ | $448k | Moving guide → |
The undisputed capital of American Torah Jewry — anchored by Beth Medrash Govoha (BMG), the largest yeshiva outside Israel, with nearly 10,000 students, hundreds of shuls, and the densest kosher infrastructure in the US outside Brooklyn.
A dense, rapidly-growing yeshivish and Modern Orthodox community centered in Passaic Park, with full kosher infrastructure, shuls across every hashkafa, and meaningfully lower prices than the NY metro Orthodox hubs — often called 'the next Lakewood.'
Lakewood's southern expansion — the North Dover section of a large shore township, where young families buy more house for less money and a shul opens in a development almost as fast as the development fills.
Bergen County's flagship Modern Orthodox community — eight shuls, a full kosher commercial strip on Cedar Lane, two Orthodox high schools, and new luxury apartments built within the eruv.
An established, affluent Modern Orthodox community anchored by Congregation Ahavath Torah and the Moriah School, with its own eruv and a leafy, higher-end housing stock on the East Hill.
South Jersey's Orthodox community, across the river from Philadelphia — Sons of Israel, the Young Israel and the Community Kollel on Cooper Landing Road, Keter Torah, Chabad, two mikvaos and the Foxman Torah Institute.
Western Bergen County's most self-contained Orthodox community — six shuls, a kosher supermarket and restaurant row on Fair Lawn Avenue, its own mikvah and eruv, and more affordable homes than the Teaneck corridor.
Teaneck's fast-growing neighbor — a yeshivish-leaning Modern Orthodox community sharing the Teaneck–Bergenfield eruv, with single-family homes that still cost less than Teaneck proper.
A walkable, close-knit Orthodox town across the river from Rutgers — five shuls on and around Raritan Avenue, a kosher supermarket, its own eruv, and row homes that cost far less than North Jersey.
Lakewood's largest spillover community — a fast-growing township of young families who wanted Lakewood's institutions with more land and a lower price, spread across developments rather than a single walkable core.
Essex County's Orthodox community along Pleasant Valley Way — AABJ&D, Ohr Torah, Bnei Torah and Chabad within a short walk, with the Essex County Ritualarium on the same road and Livingston's schools next door.
Highland Park's growing overflow — three shuls, RPRY, and the same eruv, with more single-family homes and yard space just over the town line.
A high-rise commuter community at the foot of the George Washington Bridge — Young Israel of Fort Lee, a Sephardic congregation and Chabad, its own eruv, and the rare Bergen County option built around apartments and condos rather than single-family homes.
We're adding shuls, kosher places, schools and eruv detail across these communities all the time. Leave your email and we'll tell you when the map gains something where you're looking.
ShulMap maps 13 Orthodox communities in New Jersey: Lakewood, Passaic, Toms River, Teaneck, Englewood, Cherry Hill, Fair Lawn, Bergenfield, Highland Park, Jackson, West Orange, Edison and Fort Lee. Together they have 341 shuls on the map, plus 34 kosher stores and restaurants, 106 day schools and 12 mikvaos. Each has its own page with a walkable shul map.
Lakewood has the most on ShulMap, with 216 mapped, followed by Passaic (32) and Toms River (30). Shul count is a rough guide to community size, not to fit — a smaller community with a daily minyan near housing you can afford may suit a family better than a bigger one.
By the US Census median home value for each community's ZIP (2020–2024), Cherry Hill ($331,200) is the most affordable in New Jersey, followed by Toms River ($389,600) and Passaic ($429,900), and Fair Lawn ($564,700) the most expensive. These are ZIP-wide figures as valued by owners — asking prices usually run higher, and each relocation guide says which sections cost what.
ShulMap has mikvaos mapped in Lakewood, Passaic, Teaneck, Englewood, Cherry Hill, Fair Lawn, Highland Park, West Orange and Fort Lee. Day schools are mapped in Lakewood, Passaic, Toms River, Teaneck, Englewood, Cherry Hill, Fair Lawn, Bergenfield, Jackson and Edison. A community without one on the map may still have one we have not added yet, and families commonly use institutions in a neighboring community.
It differs community by community, and ShulMap never infers one. Each community page carries its own eruv detail with the source and the date it was last checked. Always confirm with your local rav or the eruv hotline before carrying on Shabbos.
Walking distance: Walking-distance circles are approximate and do not assert a halachic standard. Confirm what is walkable for you locally.
ShulMap is an independent directory. Listings and routes are informational — verify all details directly with the source.