Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Penns Grove earns a D−, 445th of 466 graded towns in New Jersey, mostly because of health and incomes. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 98% of the country. The median household income is $46K, and 44% of residents live below the poverty line. What it does well: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 83% of U.S. towns. 44% of residents live below the poverty line in Penns Grove, where New Jersey’s towns sit at 6% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. On cost of living, just 19 of New Jersey’s 530 towns do better.
Where Penns Grove beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| Widest gap | Penns Grove | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 20.4% | 7% |
Coastal flooding makes up 41% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Penns Grove is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,826 in 1900, a peak of 6,669 in 1950, 4,837 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 6 maps from 1890 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Penns Grove. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi MuseumUSS New Jersey
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaLincoln Financial Field
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaXfinity Mobile Arena
Big draw23 mi Ancient siteIndependence Hall3.0M visitors a year
Big draw23 mi MuseumEastern State Penitentiary
Big draw30 mi MuseumLynnewood HallUSS New Jersey: Camera Operator: PH3 BRYANT, Public domain · Lincoln Financial Field: The original uploader was Betp at French Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Xfinity Mobile Arena: Jen Smith, CC BY 3.0 · Independence Hall: Mys 721tx, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Eastern State Penitentiary: Davidt8, Public domain · Lynnewood Hall: Shuvaev, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Penns Grove, 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 Penns Grove.
Penns Grove has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it has poverty well above the New Jersey rate and has a long record of flood insurance claims.
At 2.2 years of the Philadelphia metro’s $91K median household income, the typical home (about $200K) costs less against local pay than in 99% of New Jersey towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living. Home values rose 63% in five years, to about $200K, against 35% across New Jersey.
The typical Penns Grove home is worth about $200,000, up 1.1% in a year, 65% below the New Jersey typical home. 35% of households own their home in Penns Grove.
| Penns Grove | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 35% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,117 a month | $1,780 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Penns Grove-Carneys Point Regional School District. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penns Grove Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 452 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
32% of Penns Grove adults say their health is fair or poor. Among 468 New Jersey towns, just 3 have a higher share of adults who report frequent mental distress than Penns Grove. 18% of Penns Grove adults report frequent physical distress.
| Penns Grove | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 15% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 11% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 9.7% | 12% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 15% | 17% |
| What stands out | Penns Grove | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.4% | 7.5% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 20.4% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The average commute for its 2,052 working residents takes 20.8 minutes, against 30.5 across New Jersey. Jobs based here grew from 518 in 2013 to 701.
Penns Grove’s average trip to work is 21 minutes. Jobs based in Penns Grove grew to 701 in 2023, 183 more than in 2013. Most working residents leave Penns Grove for work: only 4% work in town.
| Penns Grove | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $46,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.7% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
198 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 24 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 74% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 198 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Penns Grove.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Penns Grove has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 26° and about 20 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Penns Grove's reported crime rate is above New Jersey's. The violent crime rate in Penns Grove is 5.7 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Penns Grove | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 5.7 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.7 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 15.4 per 1,000 residents | 8.9 | 11.5 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
11 within 15 miles of the center of Penns Grove
About 6 of every 100 Penns Grove residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
Where Penns Grove’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 notable people were born in Penns Grove.
Borough in Salem County, New Jersey, US
Penns Grove is a borough in Salem County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,837, a decrease of 310 (−6.0%) from the 2010 census count of 5,147, which in turn reflected an increase of 261 (+5.3%) from the 4,886 counted in the 2000 census. Penns Grove had the fourth-highest property tax rate in New Jersey, with an equalized rate of 5.556% in 2020, compared to 3.476% in Salem County and a statewide average of 2.279%.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Penns Grove.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penns Grove | #445 | D− | C+ | — | C− | D− |
| Carneys Point Township | #404 | C− | C | B | C− | C− |
Penns Grove reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Penns Grove with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Penns Grove grades D− overall, better than 3% of U.S. towns and #445 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades D− for health and C− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 2.2 years of the area's median household income ($91,289 across the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 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 C+.
5 notable people were born here, including John Forsythe and Don Bragg.
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