Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Margate City grades A− overall, 139th among New Jersey's 466 graded towns. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 97% of U.S. towns. Its schools outperform 93% of the state's and it is healthier than 92% of U.S. towns. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $1.1 million, 14 years of the Atlantic City metro’s $82K median household income. 36% of residents are 65 or older in Margate City, above both New Jersey’s towns (18%) and U.S. towns (18%). Only 33 of New Jersey’s 530 towns score lower on hazard risk. Margate City has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Marven Gardens Historic District.
Where Margate City beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| William H. Ross III School | PK–4 | 186 |
| Eugene A. Tighe Middle School | 5–8 | 140 |
Coastal flooding makes up 23% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
59.4% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, so the town is fuller in summer than its census count suggests.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Margate City is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for hazard risk (better than 9%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Lucy, the Margate Elephant is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 69 in 1900, a peak of 10,576 in 1970, 5,317 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1881 and 6 maps from 1890 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Margate City, 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 Margate City.
Margate City has schools in the top 5% of New Jersey and has a longer frost-free season than almost anywhere else in New Jersey, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding).
At 14 years of the Atlantic City metro’s $82K median household income, the typical home (about $1.15M) costs more against local pay than in 98% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. Home values rose 66% in five years, to about $1.15M, against 35% across New Jersey.
The typical Margate City home is worth about $1,148,000, up 13.7% in a year, 100% above the New Jersey typical home. 90% of households own their home in Margate City.
| Margate City | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 90% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,347 a month | $1,780 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A ranks #16 of the 465 New Jersey towns we grade for schools. Its A for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.15M.
Its public schools are run by the Margate City School District. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| William H. Ross III SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 186 | A− |
| Eugene A. Tighe Middle SchoolTop results in townGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 140 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests
Within New Jersey it is healthier than 61% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar.
84% of Margate City adults had a checkup this year. Margate City beats the New Jersey average on 17 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 5.3% of Margate City adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Margate City | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 32% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 84% | 78% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 36% | 36% |
| What stands out | Margate City | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.2% | 14.3% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 5.4% | 12.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13.5% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 95% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $1,647 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on. 2,669 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 78 properties have flooded more than once.
Margate City’s FEMA risk score is 87 of 100. Since 1978, 2,669 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Margate City.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Atlantic City Intl Ap weather station, 9 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 190 days, the highest of 941 New Jersey places with climate records.
Margate City has chilly winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Margate City is 84°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Margate City has about as many jobs (1,876) as working residents, but only 277 people both live and work here. Jobs based here grew from 1,426 in 2013 to 1,876.
Most working residents leave Margate City for work: only 14% work in town. Since 2013, Margate City has added 450 jobs, to 1,876 in 2023. The top destinations are Atlantic City (19%), Egg Harbor Township (6%) and Northfield (4%).
| Margate City | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 21% | 16% | 11% |
| Median household income | $122,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Margate City's reported crime rate is below New Jersey's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2024.
| Margate City | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.7 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 12.5 per 1,000 residents | 8.9 | 11.5 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Margate City. Close and well known come first.
in town LandmarkLucy the Elephant
Big draw32 mi Park & preservePine Barrens
4 mi Stadium & arenaBoardwalk Hall
5 mi Theme parkSteel Pier29 mi BeachLong Beach Island
5 mi Theme parkGillians Wonderland Pier and Island WaterparkLucy the Elephant: User:dtcdthingy 3:30 pm 30th July 2004 (Minolta Dimage X20), Public domain · Pine Barrens: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Boardwalk Hall: Jack Boucher, Public domain · Steel Pier: Make Lemons, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Gillians Wonderland Pier and Island Waterpark: Kevin Jarrett from Northfield, NJ, USA, CC BY 2.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Margate City
About 8 of every 100 Margate City residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
6,354 counted in 2010 and 5,317 in 2020; an estimated 5,194 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
2 places in Margate City on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Atlantic County, New Jersey, US
Margate City is a city situated on the Jersey Shore on Absecon Island, within Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, on the Atlantic Ocean shoreline. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 5,317, a decrease of 1,037 (−16.3%) from the 2010 census count of 6,354, which in turn had reflected a decline of 1,839 (−22.4%) from the 8,193 counted in the 2000 census. Geographically, the city, and all of Atlantic County, is part of the South Jersey region of the state and of the Atlantic City-Hammonton metropolitan statistical area, which in turn is included in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The city is located on Absecon Island, which stretches for 8.1 miles (…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Margate City.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margate City | #139 | A− | D | — | A | A |
| Egg Harbor Township | #373 | C | D | C+ | C+ | B+ |
| Ventnor City | #403 | C− | D | C− | C+ | B+ |
Margate City reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Margate City with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Margate City grades A− overall, better than 84% of U.S. towns and #139 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A for health and A for schools. Hazard risk 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.
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