Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,196.
Forked River’s median rent is $2,170 a month, above both the New Jersey town median ($1,778 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). The biggest park or preserve is Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, at 125 acres. We don’t grade Forked River yet; the figures below are still real.
Coastal flooding makes up 16% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1933.
Explore the history →Forked River is unincorporated, so Ocean County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Forked River.
At 91 of 100, Forked River’s FEMA risk score is against 52 of 100 in New Jersey’s towns and 44 of 100 across U.S. towns. Since 1978, 786 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Forked River.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Forked River for work: only 4% work in town. Since 2013, Forked River has added 530 jobs, to 1,775 in 2023. The average trip to work in Forked River is 31 minutes.
| Forked River | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 18% | 16% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Forked River has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 26° and about 10 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Forked River beats the New Jersey average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 17% of Forked River adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Forked River | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 78% | 79% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Forked River | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 9% | 11.3% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.6% | 14.3% |
| More smokers | 14.4% | 10.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.4 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Forked River’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, at 125 acres.
| Forked River | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.1% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Enos Pond County Park | 0.4 mi | 122 |
| 2. Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge | — | 125 |
| 3. Vincent Clune Park | — | 23 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Forked River home is worth about $513,000, up 5.5% in a year, 11% below the New Jersey typical home. 92% of households own their home in Forked River.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Forked River. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi Park & preservePine Barrens
Big draw26 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great Adventure2.2M visitors a year12 mi BeachLong Beach Island
35 mi Stadium & arenaBoardwalk Hall
39 mi LandmarkLucy the Elephant
6 mi LighthouseBarnegat LighthousePine Barrens: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Six Flags Great Adventure: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Boardwalk Hall: Jack Boucher, Public domain · Lucy the Elephant: User:dtcdthingy 3:30 pm 30th July 2004 (Minolta Dimage X20), Public domain · Barnegat Lighthouse: L'Aquatique, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Forked River
About 3 of every 100 Forked River residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
Where Forked River’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Place in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States
Forked River () is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Lacey Township, in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 5,274, an increase of 30 (+0.6%) from the 5,244 enumerated at the 2010 census, which in turn reflected an increase of 330 (+6.7%) from the 4.914 counted in the 2000 census. Many Ocean County residents commonly refer to all of Lacey Township as Forked River. The first word is pronounced by locals with two syllables (). Pronouncing the first word with one syllable () is considered a sign of a new resident or outsider (an example of a shibboleth).
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Forked River.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forked River | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ocean Township | #245 | B | C− | A+ | C | A− |
| Lacey Township | #295 | B− | D | B+ | C+ | A− |
Forked River isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Forked River with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
We don’t grade Forked River yet; the figures below are still real.
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