Doylestown vs. Newtown vs. New Hope: A Side-by-Side for $1M+ Buyers

The short answer: Doylestown, Newtown, and New Hope are all strong $1M+ markets, but they differ in ways that matter: school district (Central Bucks, Council Rock, New Hope-Solebury), how you'd commute (Doylestown has a SEPTA station, Newtown is closest to Trenton's trains, New Hope relies on a Manhattan bus or a drive), and price point (New Hope has the highest median listing price of the three). In each one, the borough and the neighboring township are separate municipalities with different tax rates, so check which one a home is actually in.

I'm Dennis Martin, and I work with buyers and sellers in all three towns and the surrounding areas. Below is the side-by-side I'd want if I were weighing them, using official sources wherever they exist. The sold-price and lot-size figures are my own compilation of Bright MLS data.

The quick comparison table

Housing stock figures: $1M+ closed sales, past 12 months; my own summary of Bright MLS data, closed sales 10/20/2025–10/16/2026, compiled by Dennis Martin.

Sources: millage from the Bucks County 2026 Millage Rates sheet (updated July 1, 2026); EIT from Doylestown Borough, Doylestown Township, Newtown Township, New Hope Borough, and the DCED register as compiled by HireTaxNexus for Newtown Borough and Solebury; transit from TMA Bucks and the Bucks Housing commute matrix; listing prices and housing descriptions from BUCKSCO.Today; $1M+ sold prices and lot sizes from Bright MLS data, closed sales 10/20/2025–10/16/2026, compiled by Dennis Martin.

$1M+ closed sales, past 12 months

Source: Bright MLS data, closed sales 10/20/2025–10/16/2026, compiled by Dennis Martin. Areas are MLS municipalities, not mailing addresses. Lot medians leave out records where acreage is blank or 0. Days on market comes straight from the MLS field, and a few records show 0. Some municipalities had only a handful of $1M+ sales (Newtown Borough had 11, and only 7 of those listed acreage, too few for a lot-size median), so read those medians loosely.

Borough vs. township: the detail that changes your tax bill

In all three towns, the name on the listing is a mailing address, not a municipality. Doylestown, Newtown, and New Hope each have a small borough at the center and a township next door. They have separate governments, and each sets its own property tax.

The county's 2026 sheet puts it in numbers. Doylestown Borough comes to 206.39 total mills and Doylestown Township to 206.65. Newtown Borough is 204.8692 and Newtown Township is 196.7342. New Hope Borough is 171.39 and Solebury Township is 183.5302 (Bucks County millage sheet). Each total includes the county's 29.65 mills and the school district's rate for the 2026–27 school year.

A mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value. Bucks County assessed values aren't market values, so don't multiply a list price by these rates. Look up the parcel's assessment first. As a reference point, $100,000 of assessed value works out to about $20,639 a year in Doylestown Borough, $19,673 in Newtown Township, and $17,139 in New Hope Borough.

Two more taxes worth knowing:

• Earned income tax: 1% for residents in all six municipalities, typically split between the municipality and the school district and collected by Keystone Collections Group (Doylestown Township; Newtown Township).
• Realty transfer tax: 2% in Bucks County (1% state, 1% split between the municipality and school district). Buyer and seller usually split it, but that's negotiable (Bucks County Recorder of Deeds).

Not tax advice; confirm with the tax collector. Rates change every year, and your bill depends on the parcel's assessed value.

When I work with buyers, I check a property's municipality and assessment through the MLS before they write an offer.

Doylestown vs. Newtown, PA: how they compare

Doylestown is the county seat. The Bucks County Administration Building is on East Court Street (Bucks County). BUCKSCO.Today points to the Mercer Mile, the Michener Art Museum, and a walkable downtown, with Victorian and colonial homes pushing well into the high six figures (BUCKSCO.Today). Both the Borough and the Township are in the Central Bucks School District.

Newtown has what BUCKSCO.Today describes as a walkable historic downtown with sub-hour access to both Princeton and Philadelphia. Its median listing price was $1,095,000, versus $795,800 for Doylestown, in the same Realtor.com data (BUCKSCO.Today). Both the Borough and the Township are in the Council Rock School District.

The big practical difference is the commute:

• Doylestown has a train. SEPTA's Lansdale/Doylestown Line starts at Doylestown station. On the schedule effective October 18, 2026, most weekday trains take about 80–85 minutes to Jefferson Station. One example is the 8:17 a.m. that arrives at 9:39 a.m. (SEPTA schedule PDF). Trans-Bridge Lines also picks up at the Doylestown SEPTA station for Port Authority: weekdays at 4:45 a.m. (arriving 7:10 a.m.) and Monday through Thursday at 5:40 a.m. (arriving 8:25 a.m.) (Trans-Bridge schedules; timetable effective March 9, 2026).
• Newtown is closer to Trenton. There's no rail in Newtown itself. Free-flow drive estimates put Newtown Borough about 20 minutes from Trenton Transit Center, which has NJ Transit and Amtrak, compared with about 44 minutes from Doylestown Borough. The nearest SEPTA rail for Newtown Township is the West Trenton Line via Woodbourne station (Bucks Housing commute matrix). SEPTA Route 130 serves Newtown Borough (TMA Bucks).

Free-flow times are a floor, not a promise. The matrix itself notes rush-hour trips can run 1.5 to 2 times longer.

Doylestown vs. New Hope: town center vs. river town

New Hope is the priciest of the three. Its median listing price was $1,572,500 in the same data (BUCKSCO.Today). The Philadelphia Business Journal ranked it the No. 2 luxury housing market in the U.S. for Q2 2026, with an average sale of $1.58 million, and agents said homes around $1 million to $2.5 million moved fastest (BUCKSCO.Today, citing PBJ). New Hope Borough and Solebury Township form the New Hope-Solebury School District (NHSD).

What to weigh against Doylestown:

• Commute: New Hope has no rail in town. Trans-Bridge's weekday Manhattan bus leaves Logan Square at 5:10 a.m. (arriving 7:10 a.m.), with a 6:10 a.m. Monday–Thursday run as well. Free-flow, the borough is about 60 minutes from Center City and 100 from Midtown (Bucks Housing; Trans-Bridge timetable).
• The river: Some New Hope parcels are in FEMA-mapped flood zones. The borough points buyers to the Bucks County Floodplain Viewer (New Hope Borough). Check the parcel and get an insurance quote early.
• Taxes: At 171.39 total mills, New Hope Borough has the lowest rate of the six municipalities here. Solebury, at 183.5302, is still below the Doylestown and Newtown municipalities (millage sheet).
• Daily rhythm: Downtown New Hope is a visitor destination, with paid parking seven days a week (Borough FAQ). More on that in my neighborhood guides.

From my own sales

• New Hope: I represented the buyers on 27 W. Mechanic St. in New Hope Borough, which sold in June 2026 for $3,550,000.
• Doylestown Township: I represented the buyers on 9 Foxtail Ln. in the Meadow Creek community, which sold for $1,650,000. It sits on about half an acre in Doylestown Township, in the Central Bucks School District (public listing record).

FAQ: Doylestown vs. Newtown vs. New Hope

Which is more expensive, Doylestown or Newtown? In Realtor.com listing data reported by BUCKSCO.Today in mid-2026, Newtown's median listing price ($1,095,000) was higher than Doylestown's ($795,800). New Hope's ($1,572,500) was the highest of the three. On closed $1M+ sales over the past year, New Hope Borough's median was $2,175,000, compared with about $1.2–1.3 million in the Doylestown and Newtown municipalities (Bright MLS data, closed sales 10/20/2025–10/16/2026, compiled by Dennis Martin).

What school districts serve Doylestown, Newtown, and New Hope? Doylestown Borough and Township are in Central Bucks SD. Newtown Borough and Township are in Council Rock SD. New Hope Borough and Solebury Township are in New Hope-Solebury SD. Addresses outside those municipalities can fall in other districts, so verify by parcel.

Which has the lowest property taxes? By 2026 total millage, New Hope Borough (171.39) is lowest of the six municipalities, and Doylestown Township (206.65) is highest. Your actual bill depends on the parcel's assessed value.

Can I take a train to Philadelphia from any of them? Doylestown has a SEPTA station on the Lansdale/Doylestown Line, about 80–85 minutes to Jefferson Station on most weekday trains. Newtown and New Hope have no rail in town. From Newtown, the nearest rail options are Trenton Transit Center (about 20 minutes free-flow) or the West Trenton Line.

Which is closest to New York City? By free-flow drive estimates, New Hope Borough (about 100 minutes to Midtown) is closest, then Newtown Borough (about 105) and Doylestown Borough (about 118). Trans-Bridge runs buses to Port Authority from New Hope and Doylestown, and Newtown is about 20 minutes from Trenton's NJ Transit and Amtrak trains.

Is a "Doylestown" or "Newtown" address always in that town? No. The mailing address can cover the borough, the township, or a neighboring township. Confirm the municipality, because it sets your millage and services.

Keep exploring:

• Compare towns on my Neighborhoods page.
• Browse current $1M+ listings in Doylestown, Newtown, New Hope, and surrounding areas.
• Selling in one of these towns or nearby? Start with a home valuation.
• Want help narrowing it down? Contact me.

Tax figures are general information from official sources, not tax advice. Confirm with the tax collector.

Featured photo: Dough4872 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) (license plate blurred)

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Dennis Martin, REALTOR® | eXp Realty, LLC
Cell 215-913-0711
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