Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Long Branch earns a D, 424th of 466 graded towns in New Jersey, mostly because of schools. Its schools rank behind 77% of the state's. In its favor, it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 93% of U.S. towns. Only 23 of New Jersey’s 530 towns score lower on cost of living. Long Branch's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 92% of U.S. towns. Long Branch has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Church of the Presidents and House at 364 Cedar Avenue.
Where Long Branch beats most towns.
Bruce Springsteen
Church of the PresidentsEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Long Branch is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 93% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 2%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 3,833 in 1880, 31,667 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1861 and 3 maps from 1954 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Long Branch. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw34 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw19 mi BeachConey Island
Big draw32 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw36 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw34 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 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Long Branch, 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 Long Branch.
Long Branch reports more crime than West Long Branch and its other graded neighbors, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New Jersey and scores below West Long Branch and its other neighbors on health.
6.6 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. Long Branch’s trail density is 1.1 miles per square mile, above both the New Jersey town median (0.7) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park, at 68 acres with 1.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Long Branch | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.1 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.3% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park | 1.3 mi | 68 |
| 2. Jackson Woods Park | 1.1 mi | 14 |
| 3. Pleasure Bay Park | 0.3 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Each of its 3 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its C−, Monmouth Beach highest at A−.
Its public schools are run by the LONG BRANCH PUBLIC SCHOOL District. Two of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long Branch Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,142 | C− |
| Long Branch High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,500 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
At 8.3 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $825K) costs more against local pay than in 81% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living. Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Oceanport is next at $954K.
For Long Branch, that is where New Jersey’s towns sit at 77% and U.S. towns at 73%. The typical Long Branch home is worth about $825,000, up 8.7% in a year, 43% above the New Jersey typical home. The median rent in Long Branch is $1,876 a month.
| Long Branch | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 43% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,876 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Long Branch has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 26° and about 25 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Each of the 3 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from West Long Branch (B) to Monmouth Beach (A+). At 24.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 79% of New Jersey’s graded towns.
Long Branch’s property crime rate is 14.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Long Branch | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.5 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Most working residents leave Long Branch for work: only 15% work in town. 16% of residents live below the poverty line in Long Branch. Jobs based in Long Branch grew to 9,216 in 2023, 1,173 more than in 2013.
| Long Branch | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Work from home | 9.9% | 17% | 11% |
| Median household income | $80,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Only 42.5% of households own their home, against 63.8% across New Jersey.
Adults 18 to 34 are 28% of residents (21% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 34% of residents (40% statewide). Long Branch has grown 5.3% since 2020, to 33,321 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 36% of Long Branch adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Long Branch | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 36.8 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 45% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 21% | 22% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.2 points. Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women. Median age: women 39.0, men 35.2.
| Long Branch | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.1% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.8% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 12.8% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.9% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.4% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.9% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.3% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.9% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.9% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 14.6% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.9% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.2% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.1% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.5% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.6% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
1,107 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 62 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 60% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 1,107 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Long Branch.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
All 3 graded neighbors score healthier than its C+, from West Long Branch (A) to Monmouth Beach (A+).
Long Branch beats the New Jersey average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16.
| Long Branch | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 23% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 11% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 15% | 19% |
| What stands out | Long Branch | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.8% | 7.5% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 10.7% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
3 within 15 miles of the center of Long Branch
About 8 of every 100 Long Branch residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
4 places in Long Branch on the National Register of Historic Places.
55 notable people were born in Long Branch.
City in Monmouth County, New Jersey, US
Long Branch is a beachside city in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 31,667, an increase of 948 (+3.1%) from the 2010 census count of 30,719, which in turn reflected a decline of 621 (−2.0%) from the 31,340 counted in the 2000 census. As of the 2020 census, it was the 6th-most-populous municipality in Monmouth County and had the 74th-highest population of any municipality in New Jersey. Long Branch was formed on April 11, 1867, as the Long Branch Commission, from portions of Ocean Township. Long Branch was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1903, based on the results of a r…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Long Branch.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; West Long Branch (B+) is closest.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Branch | #424 | D | D− | C+ | C− | C+ |
| Oceanport | #91 | A | D | A | A− | A+ |
| Monmouth Beach | #34 | A+ | D | A+ | A− | A+ |
| West Long Branch | #193 | B+ | D− | B | A− | A |
| Deal | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Deal isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Long Branch with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Long Branch grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #424 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades C+ for health, C+ for safety and C− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. That is 8.3 years of the area's median household income ($99,155 across the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
55 notable people were born here, including Bruce Springsteen and Garret Hobart.
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