Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 9,989, settled in 1824.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Colts Neck Township grades A overall, 120th of 466 graded towns in New Jersey. It is healthier than 98% of U.S. towns. The median household earns $200K and it reports less crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $1.4 million for a typical one and 13.7 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Colts Neck Township’s median rent is $2,777 a month, against $1,778 a month in New Jersey’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. Colts Neck Township is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns. Colts Neck Township has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Probasco-Dittner Farmstead and Laird & Company Distillery Historic District.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Colts Neck Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,498 in 1850, a low of 1,074 in 1920, 9,957 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1735 and 7 maps from 1888 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Colts Neck Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw33 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw35 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw22 mi BeachConey Island
Big draw36 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw34 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw35 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a yearMadison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Central Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Coney Island: OptimumPx, Public domain · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Colts Neck Township, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Colts Neck Township.
Colts Neck Township reports less crime than Holmdel Township or any other graded neighbor and has less food insecurity than most of New Jersey, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New Jersey.
At 13.7 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $1.36M) costs more against local pay than in 97% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living. Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Holmdel Township is next at $1.12M.
94% of Colts Neck Township households own their home. Typical home values rose 10% in the year to September 2026.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Freehold Regional High School District. Three of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Colts Neck High School, with 1,430 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conover Road Primary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 366 | – |
| Colts Neck High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,430 | A− |
| Conover Road Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 322 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with New Jersey is food insecurity: 5.8% of its 7,712 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.3% statewide. Against the 959 U.S. towns with household incomes like Colts Neck Township’s, it is healthier than 76%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
26% of adults feel lonely in Colts Neck Township. Colts Neck Township beats the New Jersey average on 20 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 13% of adults report frequent mental distress in Colts Neck Township.
| Colts Neck Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 32% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 36% | 36% |
| What stands out | Colts Neck Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.8% | 14.3% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.9% | 11.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.3% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A tops all 3 graded towns on its borders; Holmdel Township (A−) comes closest. Reported crimes fell from 82 to 40 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Colts Neck Township’s property crime rate is 3.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Colts Neck Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
23 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. Dorbrook Park, at 113 acres with 2.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Dorbrook Park | 2.3 mi | 113 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Colts Neck Township has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 24° and about 29 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here grew from 2,196 in 2013 to 2,868. 25.7% of workers work from home, against 16.8% across New Jersey.
Most working residents leave Colts Neck Township for work: only 8% work in town. The average trip to work in Colts Neck Township is 33 minutes. Jobs based in Colts Neck Township grew to 2,868 in 2023, 672 more than in 2013.
| Colts Neck Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $200,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 26% | 16% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.4% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 61% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 27 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Colts Neck Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
18 within 15 miles of the center of Colts Neck Township
About 6 of every 100 Colts Neck Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
2 places in Colts Neck Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in Colts Neck Township.
Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey
Colts Neck Township is a township in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 9,957, a decrease of 185 (−1.8%) from the 2010 census count of 10,142, which in turn reflected a decline of 2,189 (−17.8%) from the 12,331 counted in the 2000 census. The municipality of Colts Neck Township was initially established by an act of the New Jersey Legislature as Atlantic Township on February 18, 1847, carved from portions of Freehold, Middletown and Shrewsbury townships. The name was changed to "Colts Neck Township" as of November 6, 1962, based on the results of a referendum he…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Colts Neck Township.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colts Neck Township | #120 | A | D− | A | B+ | A+ |
| Tinton Falls | #219 | B+ | D | — | B | A |
| Holmdel Township | #66 | A | D− | A− | A | A+ |
| Lincroft | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Middletown Township | #93 | A | C− | A− | B+ | A |
| Marlboro Township | #90 | A | D | B+ | A− | A+ |
| Howell Township | #225 | B | D− | — | B | A |
Tinton Falls and Howell Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Lincroft isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Colts Neck Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Colts Neck Township grades A overall, better than 87% of U.S. towns and #120 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health, A for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
8 notable people were born here, including Jacquie Lee and Charles Haight.
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