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Hillside is a an exception, according to a new report by Realtor.com.
The website ranked the 11 most affordable places to live outside the big city, ranking the Union County borough at the top.
Realtor.com looked at ZIP codes in the 11 largest metropolitan areas and considered crime rates, rush-hour commutes more than an hour long. Then, the site ranked the reamining ZIPs by median home listing prices from April 2018 to March 2019.
"Stroke-inducing prices for restroom-sized co-ops and condos in Manhattan have long pushed folks into desirable Jersey burbs such as Maplewood and Montclair," Realtor.com said.
"But with their opulent homes and chill vibes, those places have become overpriced for a lot of folks. That's why more people are looking at Hillside, which lacks a quaint city center but still has an urban feel with street blocks lined with unique older homes. And it's just a short hop to Newark Liberty International Airport."
The schools are not as highly-rated as the ones in the more well-known towns closer to Manhattan, the website says, and the dining options are lesser, too.
But the Victorian homes make up for those two factors, Florham Park-based mortgage lender Dante Puorro of Caliber Home Loans said.
"To put these prices into perspective, home prices in Hillside, only about an hour away from midtown Manhattan, are nearly 14 percent less than the national median of $310,000," Realtor.com reports.
"And they're just a fraction of the $1.45 million median price tag in Manhattan."
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