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Estell Manor and Newfield are quaint, affordable rural towns. Northfield is more expensive. Drive a little - save a lot The further you drive away from Atlantic City and the shore the better value you will get.
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How about Smithville, which is just north of Absecon? Look into that area. My friend got married there several years ago, it's just a beautiful, secluded little area north of the White Horse Pike.
I am a South Jersey native, I will give you the scoop and hope you enjoy the Garden State.
First I must say New Jersey is kinda broken into South, Central and North of course, and we all have our "reps", lol. Like The North Jersey folks seem to feel more "sophisticated" and worldly, Central are a mix and we here in South Jersey are the best (kidding- we are viewed as the "hicks" or "pineys as we are called, not true except we did have multiple cars hidden in grass before). Actually we are more laid back as we have more land and air to relax. I enjoy museums and shopping, plenty of stores down here,nice schools in my experience/opinion..and you mentioned Northfield, Estelle Manor and Milville-all So.Jersey. Milville is small town but farmland nice, has a lake people frequent, antique shops, affordable but one must drive to get to stores, dunno why someone said to "cross it off your list" though? Now Camden I can no way due to rates of crime so high! I grew up in a smaller town, the area includes Absecon, Pomona, Cologne and Galloway but it grew up around us , now we have malls, great colleges like The Richard Stockton College, good schools etc... I do not know of Beverly, or Catskill- you might want to make this easier on you by FIRST choosing which part of Jersey you like North, Central or South. OK- here are the general impressions some get:
South- Near Atlantic City and huge shopping area of designer stores recently built, Boardwalks, suburbs have many trees, less crowds, more land. People are in less of a hurry, but still in style etc..
I grew up here, never experienced much crime as I was in the Pinelands.
North- People North are closer to New York city and sometimes refer to us as "hicks" or "Pineys" b/c we have Pine Trees I guess-lol. Crowded, the NY accent you hear on TV,lol, fast paced, some have short fuses and feel ABOVE us- which they are, but only in the literal sense-lol!
Central-I lived in Edison, to commute to NYC and Rutgers Univ. but areas like Cranberry and Monroe are very farmy and one must drive to town but safe. I liked Princeton. I did not enjoy New Brunswick-yes, college is there and I am sure some areas are nice, but the college area is dangerous and drug dealers lurk about (no offense to those who are good and live there, but you know the commercial ave. not kid friendly part of town exists)..
Beach towns like Ocean City (my fav), Brigantine, Cape May which is the most southern point, one can take the Ferry into Lewes and Rehoboth Bch. DE. the zoo too.
Northfield is nice but can get busy with all the stores, mall etc. Linwood is pricey but very nice.
Here is a list to investigate further: Smithville, Galloway, Absecon, Linwood/Northfield right next to each other, Somers Point, Ocean City. More Central, Basking Ridge I heard about Morristown. Tenafly is very close to Manhattan-very affluent. Unsure of the others mentioned.
Good Luck, any other questions, I will try to help.
I think you may want to give some consideration to central NJ (i.e. Monmouth County or Middlesex County). Towns that might be in your range would include Old Bridge, Sayreville, South Amboy, East Brunswick, Matawan, Manalapan and Freehold.
Each of these towns are centrally located near major highways and roadways such as Route 9, Route 18, Route 35, Garden State Parkway and NJ Turnpike, not to mention the NJ Transit bus sytem and/or trains are nearby.
They're only minutes from affluent and family-oriented towns like Colts Neck, Holmdel and Marlboro, which could prove helpful given your line of work.
Also, each town puts you within 25 minutes of New Brunswick and within 60 minutes of NYC, so you'll have an opportunity to explore nightlife.
You didn't mention what kind of price range you are looking in. Out of that list--Estell Manor and parts of Upper Deerfield, if you like rural to semi-rural. Newfield--seems OK. Don't know if it is too far from your list, but you might want to check out Buena Vista Township. Most of it is very nice and reasonably priced too.
Smithville is really nice. It's true; if you're willing to drive a bit more for shopping etc., I highly recommend a lot of areas of Hamilton Township (in Atlantic County, not Mercer). Egg Harbor Township is growing so rapidly the present road system can barely handle it. WAY too crowded for my liking.
I too suggest crossing Millville and Bridgeton off the list. Ditto Commercial Township. Sometimes there are reasons why prices are so low
Pitman is awesome! It is one of the very few towns left in New Jersey that have neighborhood schools that children actually walk to! It's liveable and has some nice historic homes and shops and doesn't seem to be crime-ridden.
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The further you drive away from Atlantic City and the shore the better value you will get. 
