Kenilworth's housing stock is established and predominantly single-family, reflecting the borough's mid-twentieth-century suburban development. Homes include colonials, capes, ranches, and split-levels on modest, well-kept lots, with some multi-family and attached housing near the commercial corridors of Route 22 and the Garden State Parkway. The borough is fully built out, so turnover drives the market rather than new construction. Buyers are drawn by the central location, the local school district, and proximity to the Merck campus and regional employment centers, making Kenilworth a practical, commuter-friendly residential choice.

Kenilworth's lifestyle is classic suburban New Jersey, with a distinctive corporate and recreational overlay. The borough's tree-lined streets and small-town civic life center on its schools, parks, and community programs, while the presence of Merck's headquarters gives the town a professional, business-oriented character. Galloping Hill Golf Course provides a major recreational amenity for golfers, and the borough's recreation fields and programs serve families. Its central Union County location places restaurants, shopping, and services within easy reach in neighboring towns. It is a convenient, established suburban community with an unusually prominent corporate anchor.

Kenilworth is served by the Kenilworth School District, a small K–12 public system educating the borough's students in local schools through high school. The self-contained district keeps education close to home, a common structure among Union County's smaller boroughs. Families are drawn to Kenilworth in part for the district's local scale and community orientation, and the borough's schools anchor civic life alongside its parks and recreation programs. Students also have access to the county's vocational and technical schools and nearby private options.

Kenilworth sits between two of Union County's principal transportation corridors: the Garden State Parkway and Route 22. These routes connect the borough directly to Newark, Elizabeth, and the wider North Jersey region, with New York City within commuting distance. The borough's central location makes it a practical base for drivers working across Union and Essex counties and in Manhattan. While Kenilworth itself is compact and locally walkable, most residents rely on automobiles and the adjacent highway network for regional travel and commuting.

Recreation in Kenilworth centers on Galloping Hill Golf Course, a 27-hole public layout spanning 271 acres of rolling terrain and regarded as one of Union County's more challenging courses. Beyond golf, the borough maintains parks and recreation fields for youth sports and community programs. The borough's compact, walkable streets and its location near the county's larger parks add everyday outdoor options. For a small borough, the presence of a premier golf course is a defining recreational feature, giving residents a substantial green space and a well-known public amenity within their own town.