Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 12,562.
Freehold's standout: it is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades C+, 342nd of 466 graded towns in New Jersey. Its weakest subject is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $649K for a typical one and 6.5 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 28% of residents are under 18 in Freehold, against 21% in New Jersey’s towns and 22% across U.S. towns. Only 45 of New Jersey’s 530 towns score lower on the outdoors. Freehold has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them St. Peter's Episcopal Church and George Taylor House.
Where Freehold beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Freehold is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 5%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,432 in 1880, 12,538 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1702 and 7 maps from 1888 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Freehold. Close and well known come first.
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw40 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw27 mi BeachConey Island
Big draw40 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw38 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw40 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 Freehold, 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 Freehold.
Freehold has commutes shorter than most of New Jersey, is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in New Jersey.
Freehold has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 23° and about 29 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Its public schools are run by the Freehold Regional High School District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freehold Intermediate SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 498 | C |
| Freehold Borough High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,376 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Within New Jersey it is less healthy than 79% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar.
Freehold beats the New Jersey average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 20% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Freehold.
| Freehold | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 23% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 11% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 78% | 79% |
| What stands out | Freehold | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.8% | 7.5% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 19.9% | 22.2% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 17.6% | 9.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The average commute for its 5,778 working residents takes 22.5 minutes, against 30.5 across New Jersey. Jobs based here grew from 4,065 in 2013 to 7,789.
Most working residents leave Freehold for work: only 7% work in town. The average trip to work in Freehold is 23 minutes. Since 2013, Freehold has added 3,724 jobs, to 7,789 in 2023.
| Freehold | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 9.2% | 17% | 11% |
| Median household income | $86,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
54% of Freehold households own their home. Typical home values rose 5.3% in the year to September 2026. Freehold’s median rent is $1,832 a month.
| Freehold | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,832 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| Freehold | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Veterans Park | 0.3 mi | 3 |
| 2. Liberty Street and YMCA "Kaboom" Park | 0.1 mi | 8 |
| 3. Monmouth Battle Monument Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 18.7 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 68% of New Jersey’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 50% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Freehold.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
21 within 15 miles of the center of Freehold
About 5 of every 100 Freehold residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
4 places in Freehold on the National Register of Historic Places.
15 notable people were born in Freehold.
Borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, US
Freehold is a borough in and the county seat of Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Known for its Victorian era homes and extensive colonial history, the borough is located in the Raritan Valley region within the New York metropolitan area, located about 33 miles (53 km) from Manhattan and 17 miles (27 km) from Staten Island. The borough has grown to become a commuter town of New York City. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 12,538, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 486 (+4.0%) from the 12,052 recorded at the 2010 census, which in turn reflected an increase of 1,076 (+9.8%) from the 10,976 counted in the 2000 census. The Freehol…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Freehold grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #342 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades B for health, B− 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−.
15 notable people were born here, including Rebecca Soni and J. R. Smith.
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