Hackettstown's housing stock reflects its Victorian-era origins and its evolution into a commuter town. The historic core contains older single-family homes, many of them Victorian and early twentieth-century houses on compact, walkable lots near Main Street. Moving outward, the housing mix shifts to mid-century ranches, colonials, and split-levels on established residential streets, with newer single-family construction and some townhome and rental communities near the town's edges and in the surrounding townships. A number of age-restricted and maintenance-oriented communities in the wider area add options for downsizers. Overall, the town offers more modest lot sizes than the surrounding rural townships, with the convenience of walking to downtown balanced against a landscape of wooded hills just beyond the municipal boundary. The mix of historic homes and newer inventory gives buyers a range of styles without the scale of a large master-planned suburb.

Hackettstown is centered on its downtown, where Main Street and the surrounding grid hold the town's Victorian storefronts and older residential streets. The neighborhoods nearest the center are walkable, with homes set close to shops, the library, and the train station. Around Centenary University, a student and faculty residential mix gives the campus area its own energy, while the neighborhoods to the north and west are more suburban, with quieter streets of single-family homes. Surrounding communities such as Mansfield and Independence townships blend into Hackettstown's edges, and developments there are often described alongside the town itself. The Musconetcong River runs through the area, and several neighborhoods are within walking distance of its banks, reinforcing the town's small-scale, community-oriented layout.

Hackettstown pairs a walkable small-town downtown with a lively community calendar. Main Street's antique and specialty shops and its independent restaurants draw both residents and visitors, while Centenary University contributes concerts, theater, lectures, and Division III athletics to town life. Annual traditions such as the Saint Patrick's Day Parade, Oktoberfest, Hometown Holiday, and Winter Fest give the year a recurring rhythm and bring the community together around the downtown. The Mars Wrigley plant is a point of local pride and a stable employment anchor. Recreation is easy to reach, with the Musconetcong River, nearby lakes, and the parks and trails of the New Jersey Highlands a short drive away. It is a town where a resident can walk to dinner downtown and still reach open countryside within minutes.

Hackettstown is served by the Hackettstown School District, a comprehensive community district covering pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade across four schools and roughly 2,000 students. The district's schools, culminating in Hackettstown High School, serve the town's students in a single unified system, and the district is a focal point of community life through its academics, athletics, and extracurricular programs. Higher education is anchored in town by Centenary University, a private university founded in 1867 that offers undergraduate and graduate programs and fields NCAA Division III athletic teams. The presence of both a full K-12 district and a four-year university within the same small town is unusual and adds to Hackettstown's appeal for families and to its role as a regional education center.

Hackettstown is unusually well connected for a town in rural northwest New Jersey. NJ Transit's Hackettstown Station serves as the western terminus for both the Morristown Line and the Montclair-Boonton Line, providing direct commuter rail service toward Hoboken and connections to New York. By road, the town sits at the meeting point of Routes 46, 57, and 517, and Interstate 80 is reached a short drive to the north, offering access across northern New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. These connections make Hackettstown a practical base for commuters heading toward Morris County, Newark, and New York City. Within town, the compact downtown is walkable, and the surrounding Warren County roads provide routes to nearby recreational areas and the Delaware Water Gap region.

Recreation in and around Hackettstown draws on the town's river valley setting. The Musconetcong River, a state-designated scenic waterway, offers fishing and quiet paddling, and the surrounding Highlands provide hiking trails and preserved open space within a short drive. The town's community calendar keeps recreation social as well, with the Saint Patrick's Day Parade, Oktoberfest, Hometown Holiday, and Winter Fest drawing crowds downtown each year. Centenary University's campus adds a full slate of athletic events, performances, and public programs. The nearby Allamuchy Mountain area and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area expand options for hiking, boating, and camping, making Hackettstown a convenient gateway to the outdoor amenities of the Skylands region.