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Dover

Dover, NJ

  • Baker Opera House - Dover, New Jersey - Wikipedia Image: Lalmeister CC0
  • View west along U.S. Route 46 (McFarlan Street) just west of New Jersey State Route 15 (Clinton Street) in Dover, Morris County, New Jersey Image: Famartin: CC0

What We Love About Dover

  • Urban vibe with suburban conveniences
  • Wide variety of housing options, including small single-family homes, multi-family-unit converted apartments, and traditional apartments 
  • Several parks with playgrounds, hiking trails, sports fields, and scenic views 
  • Good public school system with Blue Ribbon high school program 
  • Diverse dining scene, including Colombian, Peruvian, Honduran, Mexican, Chinese, Italian, and American restaurants
  • Easy access to New York City via Dover’s NJ Transit Station 
  • Bustling Route 46, offering consumer essentials 
  • Convenient access to Saint Clare’s Dover Hospital, a top medical facility 

Dover is located in Morris County, New Jersey.

From NYC it takes barely 45 minutes to get here by car. Dover is part of the Skylands region of NJ, which is made up largely of farms, fairs, rivers, mountains, parks, wineries and outdoor activities. Even though you have some rural living, as with most of NJ, you are not far from shopping, groceries, dining and work.

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Quick Facts

Dover is located in Morris County, New Jersey – Skylands Region – an hour from NYC by car.

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Quick facts about Dover:

COMMUTE TIME (Hour:Minutes) ⓘ

These times are based on info from New Jersey Transit and Google Maps. Shortest times are given. Use our map above to calculate more accurate commute times to any address.
0:45+

Car ride to NYC.

1:30+

Train service to NYC.

n/a

Bus service to NYC.

SIZE ⓘ

People per square mile gives you an idea of how much breathing room a town has. NYC has around 27,000 while a well equipped walkable town might have around 5,000. Smaller towns with more single family homes and large yards usually have under 1,000. Click on more info below to see where we get our data. 
17,725

Population estimate, July 1, 2019

2.68

Square miles

6,765

People per square mile

HOUSING ⓘ

Median cost to rent or own is basically the average cost of renting or owning per month in any given town. It’s not exact. Median values include the most expensive dwellings and the cheapest dwellings all averaged together, but with some weight added to higher concentrations in the data set. Just gives you some basic basis of comparison between towns. Click on more info below to see where we get our data.

$1,461

Median gross rent, 2014-2018

$2,194

Median selected monthly owner costs – with a mortgage, 2014-2018

$268,000

Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2014-2018

PROPERTY TAX ⓘ

Approximate tax on $100K of home value. Ex: If you pay $500K for a house, multiply the number in the left column by 5 to get an idea of what you will have to pay each year in property taxes.

$2,845

Property taxes per $100,000 in home value.

EDUCATION ⓘ

Gives you the ability to quickly see how much of a town has graduated from high school or higher ed. Click on more info below to see where we get our data.
77.90%

High school graduate or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+, 2014-2018

18.70%

Bachelor’s degree or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+, 2014-2018

INCOME ⓘ

Gives you an idea of how much people make in this town compared to other towns you look at. Click on more info below to see where we get our data.

$71,903

Median household income (in 2018 dollars), 2014-2018

AGE DISTRIBUTION ⓘ

Gives you an idea of how old your neighbors might be. Click on more info below to see where we get our data.
22.20%

Persons under 18 years

11.10%

Persons 65 years and over

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE STATS & INFO ON RACE, INCOME AND HOUSING

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School Scores – click on schools please

Walking and Biking Score – any score over 50 is good​

The Full Story of Dover, NJ

What is it like living in Dover, NJ?

Just below the border of extreme northern New Jersey, Dover is home to about 18,000 residents. Although adjacent to typical New Jersey suburbs, Dover has a palpably more urban feel—tracing back to its roots as Morris County’s most important 19th-century industrial town—while also offering the suburban conveniences that define a large portion of the Garden State. Route 46 (a convenient highway) and Blackwell Street (Dover’s commercial downtown) run almost parallel to the Rockaway River, all three slicing through the middle of town east to west. Here is where you will find everything you need, from car dealerships and mechanics to dining, shopping, and medical care. The Blackwell Street Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

That’s Dover in a nutshell!

Click to read more

With a combination of quiet residential side streets and bustling roads and highways like Route 46 and East Blackwell Street, residents can enjoy the comfort of suburban living while also taking advantage of lively restaurants, shopping, and activities just a few minutes away. When kids aren’t in school and parents have time off from work, you can find Dover families enjoying the outdoors at the parks and playgrounds throughout the town, whether it’s hiking at Hedden Park, fishing at Bowlby Pond, or playing at JFK Playground. 

Route 46 offers easy access to other major roadways, including Route 15, Route 10, and Route 80. Dover also has a NJ Transit station providing direct access on the Morris and Essex line into New York Penn Station.

 

Schools 

North Dover Elementary is the largest of Dover’s three elementary schools, with 696 students in pre-k-6th grade (with a full-day preschool program for parents looking to get an early start on their toddlers’ education). Academy Street Elementary (550 pre-k-6th grade students) and East Dover School (431 k-6th grade students). Dover Middle School serves 551 7th and 8th grade students from the Dover, Mine Hill, and Victory Garden areas. Dover High School, a previous Blue Ribbon recipient, educates 1,022 9th- to 12th-grade students and offers honors classes along with 17 Advanced Placement courses. The school also has a Health and Science Academy program, a four-year commitment for students looking to become paramedics, personal trainers, nurses, medic technicians, pharmacists, etc. Artistically inclined students may pursue the Fine and Performing Arts Academy program. 

 

Parks and Recreation 

Tucked in the thick greenery of northern New Jersey, Dover offers plenty of outdoor opportunities. Hedden Park, 420 acres shared between neighboring Randolph and Dover, has most of what an outdoor enthusiast would be looking for, including several athletic fields, hiking trails, and a beautiful pond with a fishing deck and picnic pavilion. While Mountain Park doesn’t have any sports fields, it is another brilliant spot for walkers and hikers looking to enjoy some trails with a scenic look-out point for a breathtaking view of the expansive and vibrant autumn landscape just out in the distance. Hurd Park is also famous in town for its scenery, with a gorgeous walkway that floods the park in pink with the springtime cherry blossoms that line the path’s edges. The walkways also include several small, quaint bridges over tiny streams that eventually lead to a Korean War memorial. 

While hiking and scenic views are wonderful perks, sports are a cornerstone of American life; Dover certainly meets this standard. In addition to the fields at Hedden Park, Hamilton Field offers space for football and soccer, as well as a large track running along the perimeter. Crescent Field is also set up for soccer (and it has an adjacent toddler-friendly playground), while King’s Field at North Dover Elementary includes a large baseball field. If your kids would rather play on the jungle gym, head to JFK Park, where parents can enjoy their brick paths and kids can run around on the playground. For golfers, Picatinny Golf Club offers 18 holes. 

 

Dining and Nightlife 

Dover is a dining hot-spot, offering cuisines from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. For Mexican, stop by La Bamba Grill on Route 46 or Tequila’s 55 Bistro Grill and Bar on East Blackwell Street. Just a bit further down is China Garden of Dover, serving an extensive variety of popular Chinese dishes. There are also several Honduran and Salvadoran restaurants to choose from, including Nolvia’s Restaurant, El Catracho, Las Brisaz, and Las Praderas II. You can even grab Colombian food at Sabor Latino Restaurant Bar or Italian food at Charlotte’s Web or M and S Pizza. There are also classic American options such as Table 42 and the Dover Grill. 

If you’re looking for something more lively for a night out, definitely grab a drink at Quiet Man Pub, a popular bustling Irish Pub along Route 46. Or take the kids to Marcade, a family-friendly pay-by-the-hour arcade full of plenty of games for everyone. Other options to keep the night alive are AMC Rockaway 16 for all the blockbuster movies and Pro Image Bowling (Route 46) just outside Dover in Rockaway. 

 

Arts and Culture 

Dover has several artistic and cultural opportunities. The most widely known is Dover Little Theatre, a 100-seat theater established in 1933 by the Dover Women’s Club. This popular destination stages concerts, plays, musicals, comedy shows, and special productions throughout the year, including Shakespeare and a holiday One Acts Festival. Tickets are available online, ranging anywhere from $18 – $25 for any given show. Just a few minutes from the theater up East Blackwell Street is the impressive YYY Fine Arts Studio, owned and operated by Russian artist Yuri Y. Yurov, with paintings, drawings, sculpture, and pottery, most of which are available for sale. Dover is also home to the The Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey, which has been producing beautiful music since 1996. They put on seasonal and special concerts in collaboration with other organizations throughout the state, usually performing in Dolan Hall at the college of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown, NJ. 

In addition to music and the arts, residents can take a tour of the Dover Area Historical Society, a museum founded in 1966. The home was built in 1876 as a silk mill, and then became the Pine Terrace Inn during the 1900s, serving as a country retreat for many folks including President Grover Cleveland. Now, it is open by appointment to residents on select evenings. And don’t forget to stop by the newly renovated Dover Free Public Library. 

 

Housing Stock 

Dover is a unique town given its geographical placement in northern New Jersey: it holds the density of an urban area yet maintains a suburban appeal. Although Dover lacks the more wide open space and privacy that is characteristic of the area, its homes give the town an older-style charm. Most of the single-family homes in Dover are small ranches, single-levels, older colonials, and cozy Cape Cods. The side streets off and to the south of Reservoir Avenue, Prospect Street, and Penn Avenue feature homes within a fairly affordable price range (anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000). Interspersed throughout town are areas with late-20th-century multi-family homes converted into apartment units, contributing to Dover’s distinctive aesthetic. There are also standard apartment buildings, including Clinton Manor, Dover Garden, and Fox Hill. 

 

The Commute 

Part of what makes New Jersey great is its proximity to New York City; Dover is no exception. Manhattan is only a 55-minute to an hour drive away. There is also the Dover NJ Transit Station right off East Blackwell Street, where you can take the Morris and Essex Line for $15.25 one-way (monthly pass $445) into New York Penn Station in as little as one hour and 19 minutes. As far as getting around the Dover area and other parts of New Jersey, Route 46 runs right through the middle of town. It offers access to other nearby major highways, including Route 15, Route 80, and Route 10. While Dover is not directly adjacent to I-287 or Route 202/206, they are easily accessible via the other routes. NJ Transit Bus 880, also known as the Morristown-Dover-Rockaway line, can take you to surrounding areas with the convenience of many stops. The drive to Newark Airport takes 35 minutes.

Neighborhoods

Dover neighborhoods tend to be quite similar to one another in terms of appearance and density. However, the landscape changes as you get closer to Route 46, where homes become a bit more tightly packed. There are areas that have more single-family homes, and others with more apartment units. The side streets off and to the south of Reservoir Avenue, Prospect Street, and Penn Avenue mostly consist of ranches, old colonials, and Cape Cods within a fairly good price range. Just east of Hedden Park, Beaufort Avenue and Edgewood Terrace just off of Ann Street offer larger yards and a bit of an escape from the density of Dover. Heading up South Morris Street and along the western side of Mountain Park, there are tons of multi-family apartment units with the occasional single-family home interspersed throughout. Most areas right near Route 46 and the Rockaway River are like this as well, if not a bit more densely packed, conjuring more of Dover’s urban aesthetic. Continuing toward the eastern edge of town, east of Mountain Park and along South Salem Street, you will find the usual Dover Cape Cods and ranches. There are also two noteworthy spots in this neighborhood: Julia Terrace, a quintessentially northern New Jersey street with colonial homes, and Salem Village, a coalition of residential streets with mostly cozy single-level homes.

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The information provided on this site is for promotional purposes. Not all statements are verified before publishing. It is strongly suggested that always contact the school district and the local municipality directly to verify important information before deciding to move or buy in that location. LovableTowns does not discriminate against any state or federally protected class as it relates to Fair Housing Act and The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD).
Photos by: Casey Kittel, Google Street View, etc.