Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Perth Amboy earns a D, 436th among New Jersey's 466 graded towns, mostly because of schools and health. Its schools rank behind 85% of the state's. Residents are less healthy than 83% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 92% of U.S. towns, with 8 places on the National Register. 20% of residents live below the poverty line in Perth Amboy, above both the New Jersey town median (6%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 22 of New Jersey’s 530 towns score lower on incomes. Perth Amboy's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 99% of U.S. towns.
Where Perth Amboy beats most towns.
Proprietary House
Census counts: 582 in 1790, 55,436 in 2020. The archive holds 10 old photos and papers going back to 1903 and 5 maps from 1947 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Perth Amboy is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 8%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Perth Amboy. Close and well known come first.
Big draw22 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw24 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw16 mi BeachConey Island
Big draw23 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw23 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw19 mi MuseumNational September 11 Memorial & MuseumMadison 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 · National September 11 Memorial & Museum: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Perth Amboy, 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 Perth Amboy.
Perth Amboy carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding) and is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s; it also has poverty well above the New Jersey rate.
Its public schools are run by the Perth Amboy Public School District. Two of its 15 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| William C. McGinnis Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 984 | C− |
| Perth Amboy High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,769 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
All 3 graded neighbors score healthier than its C−, from South Amboy (B+) to Woodbridge Township (A−).
31% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Perth Amboy. Perth Amboy beats the New Jersey average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 21. 38% of adults feel lonely in Perth Amboy.
| Perth Amboy | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 15% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 22% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 11% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Perth Amboy | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4.3% | 7.5% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 20% | 22.2% |
| More uninsured adults | 30.4% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 95% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $113 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA risk score in Perth Amboy is 13 of 100. Since 1980, 37 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Perth Amboy.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The average commute for its 23,567 working residents takes 23.5 minutes, against 30.5 across New Jersey.
4.8% of Perth Amboy workers work from home. Jobs based in Perth Amboy grew to 15,288 in 2023, 3,006 more than in 2013. Perth Amboy’s median household income is $62,000.
| Perth Amboy | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 4.8% | 17% | 11% |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 26.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 82% of New Jersey’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 1,110 to 618 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
Perth Amboy has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 26° and about 32 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
2.2 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves.
| Perth Amboy | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3.2% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Stanley F. Rudyk Park | 0.5 mi | 10 |
| 2. Washington Park | 0.3 mi | 7 |
| 3. Veterans Memorial Youth League Complex | — | 14 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
64.4% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 51.6% across New Jersey.
The typical Perth Amboy home is worth about $493,000, up 2.6% in a year, 14% below the New Jersey typical home.
| Perth Amboy | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 35% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,688 a month | $1,780 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
14 within 15 miles of the center of Perth Amboy
About 5 of every 100 Perth Amboy residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
Where Perth Amboy’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
8 places in Perth Amboy on the National Register of Historic Places.
48 notable people were born in Perth Amboy.
City in Middlesex County, New Jersey, U.S.
Perth Amboy is a historic waterfront city in northeastern Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", referring to its location adjoining Raritan Bay. The earliest residents of the area were the Lenape Native Americans, who called the point on which the city lies "Ompoge". Perth Amboy was settled in 1683 by Scottish colonists and was called "New Perth" after James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth; the native name was eventually corrupted and the two names were merged. Perth Amboy was formed by Royal charter in 1718, and the New Jersey Legislature r…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Perth Amboy.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; South Amboy (C+) is closest.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perth Amboy | #436 | D | D | C | C− | C− |
| Woodbridge Township | #277 | B− | D− | — | C+ | A− |
| Sewaren | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hopelawn | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sayreville | #273 | B− | D | — | B− | A− |
| South Amboy | #335 | C+ | D | B− | D | B+ |
Woodbridge Township and Sayreville report no FBI crime data of their own. Sewaren and Hopelawn aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Perth Amboy with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Perth Amboy grades D overall, better than 5% of U.S. towns and #436 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 5 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.
48 notable people were born here, including Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.
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