Live in PA, work in Wilmington or southern NJ? (Philadelphia: sales, houses)

[JenNyc2020]

Hi all - I have a job option that would allow me to work in either Wilmington or southern NJ. If I worked in Wilmington, I would still probably have to go to NJ periodically. We have decided that we would prefer to live in PA in a suburban area where we can get a nice house with a yard in an area with good schools.

We have never been to any of these areas, but have heard that Chadds Ford, Media, and Bryn Mawr are nice and have good schools, but it’s hard to know how the commutes would be given that Traffic is light these days because of Covid. I am really trying to avoid a horrible commute (anything over 40-45 mins) because I have 2 little kids at home and want to spend as much time with them as possible.

Can anyone provide any thoughts on the following commutes (in normal weekday traffic):
1) Commute from Bryn Mawr to Cherry Hill? I assume if we chose Bryn Mawr it makes more sense to work from Cherry Hill than Wilmington?
2) Commute from Media to Cherry Hill? Media to Wilmington?
3) Commute from Chadds Ford to Wilmington? (I assume this is too far to commute to Cherry Hill on a regular basis)

Also, if anyone has broader thoughts on scenarios/towns that I’m
missing, please let me know. We do NOT want to live in NJ and also don’t want to live in Philly itself. We are coming from NYC area and would like a change of pace from city life!

Thanks!

[Muinteoir]

I suggest choosing Media or Chadds Ford and commuting to Wilmington. These days, traffic is not too bad anywhere because of the shut down. Once things get going again, Bryn Mawr to Cherry Hill would be pretty painful, as you'd take both 76 and 676 which are quite congested during rush hour.

Media to Cherry Hill may be just a bit better, but if there is otherwise no reason to choose Cherry Hill, Wilmington is closer to Media. I personally would only commute to Cherry Hill from either somewhere in NJ or Philadelphia.

I do not know exactly what your budget is, but Swarthmore is another nice DelCo town with a decent commute to Wilmington.

[Fireshaker]

The commute seems to be your primary concern here, but have you compared the tax liabilities of the two states? I bring this up because my wife used to teach in Wilmington (we own a home in Philly). Delaware has no sales tax, so they make it up with a crazy high income tax, and she used to get absolutely SOCKED. So if you're considering Wilmington, that's absolutely something you'll want to take into consideration, because working in Delaware and living in Pennsylvania may negatively affect your overall income.

[S0medude]

I live and work currently in central nj and wondering the same thing. I will be starting to work in south jersey soon and wondering what type of housing I can get for 500 to 700 dollar range?

[Now Justice 81]

I'm going to keep it real, that commute from Media to Cherry Hill will be painful whenever or if ever the traffic situation normalizes. It's already a 35 minute commute with the freeway being vacant. You say that you've never been to any of these areas,then you should look into moving to New Jersey all together and scrap the commute. There are some great schools and great neighborhoods in the Cherry Hill, Mt. Laurel, Evesham, Moorestown area, etc.. plus you will even have a overall better commute into Philly from those areas than from Media, if your interested. It would be wise to you to research those areas.

[toobusytoday]

Having lived in Chester and Delaware counties, I would vote for Chadds Ford- Wilmington combo. While it's true that your income will be better overall living and working in Delaware, you will find that the public schools in Delaware are not as good as the ones in Pennsylvania. And I say that as someone who grew up in Delaware. My husband did as well.

Several years ago my husband took a transfer to South Jersey, just over the Commodore Barry Bridge and we looked at NJ, PA and Delaware. New Jersey was too expensive and unappealing (too much suburban living, flat topography and traffic) and the Delaware schools were very unimpressive. We ended up moving to Garnet Valley and had Delaware within literally walking distance. We lived there for six years and were very happy with the schools.

What I would actually do if I were you is to figure out the maximum commute you'd like and look at the school districts within that circle. Then figure out your priorities - price range, schools, what you want for a lifestyle, etc. When we moved here we realized that we wanted to live in a small, good school district near or in a small town but close enough to major roads so that we could go places without driving for hours. We did not want to live in a sea of houses with no core town - that's what Garnet Valley was lacking.

[Patmcpsu]

The problem with living in PA and working in NJ is tolls on the bridges. $5 a day on tolls equates to about $100 a month for a daily commuter.

The problem with working in Wilmington is taxes. Delaware state income tax is high (higher than NJ in most cases, both have progressive tax rates with different brackets), and there's no local income tax *unless* you work in Wilmington's city limits, which has a 1.25% city wage tax.

Between tolls and taxes, the two states may be a wash, financially, but you'll want to do the math for your specific situation.

I agree with everyone else that Delaware is the easier commute from Media or Chadds Ford (I prefer Chadds Ford, but it depends on how developed of an area you want to live in. You did identify the two best options in PA for your situation, but I would also recommend considering Glen Mills as a mix between the two.

Besides locations effecting your take-home pay and commute, I find everything in Delaware to be a little "off" (kind of Maryland-ey) whereas people in NJ tend to have their act together more.