Sussex's housing stock reflects its small-town, rural character: a mix of older single-family homes in the borough's compact grid, mid-century ranches, and newer homes on the outskirts, with larger lots and occasional rural parcels in the surrounding countryside. The market skews toward owner-occupied family homes, many on comfortable lots with views of the surrounding ridges. Compared with the denser suburbs closer to New York, Sussex offers a more spacious, semi-rural housing pattern.

Sussex is small enough to function as one community, with older residential streets clustered around the Route 23 corridor and the Papakating Creek area. Newer homes and larger lots extend toward the borough's edges, where the town transitions into the farmland and wooded ridges of Wantage and the surrounding townships. The community's compact downtown along Main Street serves as a local gathering point, while the countryside provides a rural buffer around the borough.

Life in Sussex is quiet and outdoors-oriented. Hiking, fishing, birding, and seasonal recreation anchor the local lifestyle, with the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, High Point State Park, and the Appalachian Trail all nearby. Community life runs through the schools, churches, and local events, and the borough retains a neighborly, small-town feel. Residents enjoy the Skylands region's natural beauty while remaining within commuting distance of larger employment centers in the New York metropolitan area.

Sussex Borough is served by the Sussex-Wantage Regional School District, which provides pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade education at its three schools serving Sussex Borough and Wantage Township. Students then attend High Point Regional High School, which serves several northern Sussex County municipalities. The districts reflect the region's small-town scale, and families also have access to nearby private and parochial options and Sussex County's vocational programs.

Route 23 is Sussex's main thoroughfare, running northwest through the borough toward the New York state line at Port Jervis and south toward the Interstate 80 corridor. The highway was realigned through Sussex in the early 2010s, adding a new Papakating Creek bridge and separate northbound and southbound alignments. County roads connect the borough to Newton and the surrounding townships, and commuting patterns generally follow Route 23 and nearby highways toward the larger New York-New Jersey metropolitan area.

The Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, with its Liberty Loop Trail, offers birding and walking just outside the borough, while High Point State Park—crowned by the highest point in New Jersey—and the Appalachian Trail are within a short drive. Papakating Creek and the region's lakes provide fishing and paddling, and the Kittatinny Mountains offer hiking and scenic views. Local parks and school facilities host community recreation throughout the year.