New Jersey city guide
Moving From California to Collingswood, NJ
A South Jersey borough with a walkable downtown and PATCO high-speed rail into Philadelphia, priced well below the state's northern suburbs.
Housing comparison
California versus Collingswood, side by side
- Median home value
- $725,800
- $380,400
- Median annual property tax
- $5,114
- not available
- Median monthly cost, owners with a mortgage
- $2,844
- not available
- Population
- 39.0 million (state)
- 14,205
Figures are US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates for the city place. Property tax and monthly cost rows cover owner-occupied units with a mortgage, so they describe what current owners pay, not what a new buyer would pay at today's prices. California column is the statewide baseline used across this site.
Why Californians look at Collingswood
Collingswood is a small borough in Camden County, just across the Delaware River corridor from Philadelphia, and it has built a reputation over the last two decades as a walkable, revitalized downtown along Haddon Avenue with independent restaurants, a well-attended farmers market, and a form-based zoning code that has kept new development pedestrian-scaled.
The town's biggest practical asset is the PATCO Speedline, which runs directly to Center City Philadelphia in under 20 minutes without a car, making Collingswood a genuine transit suburb of Philadelphia in the way Morristown or Montclair are transit suburbs of New York.
Prices here are the lowest or close to the lowest of any town in this South Jersey and northern New Jersey group. A California seller with even modest equity will find Collingswood's entry cost dramatically lower than anything in Essex, Morris, or Mercer counties, while still buying a walkable downtown and a fast transit connection to a major city.
Collingswood fits you if
- You want the lowest housing cost in this group alongside a real walkable downtown.
- You want a direct rail line into Philadelphia rather than New York.
- You want a small-town feel, roughly 14,000 people, with an active Main Street rather than a sprawling suburb.
- You are comfortable with South Jersey's slower pace and closer ties to Philadelphia than to New York.
Look elsewhere if
- You need access to Manhattan specifically. Collingswood's transit orientation is toward Philadelphia, not New York.
- You want a large local job market with many employers to choose from. The borough itself is small and mostly residential and retail.
- You want the largest possible house and lot. Collingswood's lots are typically smaller, reflecting its dense, walkable layout.
- You need extensive specialty hospital care in town rather than a short drive into Camden or Philadelphia.
Housing in Collingswood
Collingswood's housing stock is dominated by early twentieth-century Craftsman bungalows, duplexes, and colonials on tight, walkable blocks near Haddon Avenue, with some newer townhouse infill near the PATCO station. Lots are small by suburban standards but the neighborhoods are genuinely walkable to shops and the train.
Data USA's 2024 estimate puts the median property value at $380,400 with a median household income of $90,184, and Census Reporter counts the population at 14,205. That price point is the cheapest or among the cheapest in this list, a fraction of what similar walkability and transit access cost in Montclair or Morristown.
Because Collingswood has been actively marketed as a revitalized downtown for two decades, well-located homes near Haddon Avenue and the PATCO station have appreciated faster than the broader Camden County market, even though the overall price level remains far below northern New Jersey.
Work and the local economy
Collingswood itself is small and largely residential and retail, without a major corporate employer inside the borough. Its economic role is as a walkable, transit-connected place to live while working in Philadelphia or in Camden County's broader healthcare and logistics economy.
Camden's Cooper University Health Care and Virtua Health both have a substantial regional presence and employ people who live in Collingswood, and Camden County government and Rutgers-Camden are nearby institutional employers.
This is a strong option for a household with remote income or a Philadelphia job, and a weaker one if you need a wide local private-sector market inside the borough itself.
Climate and setting
Collingswood has a humid subtropical climate typical of the Philadelphia region, milder in winter than northern New Jersey but still bringing real cold, freezing temperatures, and periodic snow.
Summers are warm and humid, with highs commonly in the upper 80s, and the Delaware River corridor's humidity is a genuine adjustment for someone used to California's dry summers.
Because Collingswood sits close to sea level along the river corridor, it does not have the elevation-driven weather swings of some other regions, and its climate tracks closely with Philadelphia's.
Getting around, care, and schools
- Commercial air
- Philadelphia International Airport is about 10 miles away, roughly 20 to 30 minutes by car.
- Rail into Philadelphia
- The PATCO Speedline's Collingswood station reaches Center City Philadelphia in under 20 minutes.
- Highways
- I-295 and Route 130 are both close, with the Walt Whitman and Ben Franklin Bridges providing direct access to Philadelphia by car.
- Hospital
- Cooper University Hospital and Virtua Health facilities are both a short drive in Camden and surrounding towns.
- Public schools
- Collingswood Public Schools, a K-12 district serving the borough.
- Higher education
- Rutgers University-Camden and Camden County College are both nearby.
The trade-offs
- The borough itself is small and mostly residential, so most jobs and specialty services require leaving town.
- Transit access favors Philadelphia, not New York, which matters if your work or family ties point north instead.
- Lots and homes are smaller than in the more spread-out northern New Jersey suburbs on this list.
- Camden, directly adjacent, has a reputation for higher crime than surrounding suburbs, and buyers should look closely at specific blocks and boundaries.
Other New Jersey towns people compare
Montclair
An arts-oriented Essex County township with three separate NJ Transit lines into Manhattan and home prices that track the access it offers.
Princeton
A university town in central New Jersey with the state's strongest reputation for public schools and an economy centered on Princeton University.
Morristown
A walkable Morris County county-seat town with Midtown Direct rail service and a corporate employment base that gives it a real local job market.
Asbury Park
A reinvented Jersey Shore city with a year-round music and boardwalk economy, priced with the shore premium that comes with it.
Cherry Hill
An established Philadelphia-suburb township in Camden County with large postwar lots and the lowest entry cost of the towns on this list.
Statewide figures, tax detail, and the full New Jersey picture are on the New Jersey page. Compare property, income, and sales tax across all 49 destination states on Taxes, and see where Californians are actually moving on Stats.
Sources
- US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B25077 (median home value), retrieved via Census Reporter, September 3, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B25103 (median real estate taxes paid, owner-occupied units with a mortgage), retrieved September 3, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B25088 (median selected monthly owner costs, owner-occupied units with a mortgage), retrieved September 3, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B01003 (total population), retrieved September 3, 2026.
- Data USA, Collingswood, NJ profile, datausa.io.
- PATCO Speedline schedule and station information, ridepatco.org.
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