Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Overall, Seaside Heights earns a D−, which places it 459th of 466 in New Jersey. It comes out behind almost every U.S. town. Its lowest grade is for safety: its crime rate is higher than 97% of U.S. towns, with 25 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. A typical home there costs about $735K, 7.4 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Walkability is its strong suit: it is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns. 34% of residents live below the poverty line in the town, above both New Jersey’s towns (6%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 24 of New Jersey’s 530 towns score lower on health. Only 2 of New Jersey’s 530 towns score lower on incomes.
Figures: FBI crime data, 2025 · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES.
Where Seaside Heights beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Coastal flooding makes up 11% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
50.6% 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 Seaside Heights is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 154 in 1920, 2,440 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1933 and 7 maps from 1888 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Seaside Heights. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great Adventure2.2M visitors a year
Big draw38 mi Park & preservePine Barrens20 mi BeachLong Beach Island
in town Theme parkCasino Pier
3 mi State parkIsland Beach State Park
13 mi LighthouseBarnegat LighthouseSix Flags Great Adventure: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Pine Barrens: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Casino Pier: User:Jimmypitt1234, Public domain · Island Beach State Park: Famartin, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Barnegat Lighthouse: L'Aquatique, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Seaside Heights, 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 Seaside Heights.
Seaside Heights is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it reports violent crime at 5 times the New Jersey rate and has poverty well above the New Jersey rate.
The biggest park or preserve is Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, at 88 acres. 1.7 miles of trail wind through 3 parks and preserves. The concentration of trails for Seaside Heights comes to 2.4 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge | — | 88 |
| 2. Carteret Ave Ball Field | — | 1 |
| 3. Hancock Ave Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its one school is below. The public schools here belong to the Seaside Heights School District. 157 students attend the town’s public school.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hugh J. Boyd Jr. Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 157 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Violent crime runs at 9.8 per 1,000 residents, 5 times the New Jersey rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Property crime runs at 30.6 per 1,000 residents, about twice the New Jersey rate, most of it theft.
In Seaside Heights, the rate of thefts and burglaries is 30.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Seaside Heights | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 9.8 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 30.6 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 4,878 U.S. towns with household incomes like Seaside Heights’s, it is healthier than 58%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
The share of adults in Seaside Heights who report frequent mental distress: 18%. 17% of adults in Seaside Heights report frequent physical distress; 23% worry about having enough food.
| Seaside Heights | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 11% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 12% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 11% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 22% | 25% |
| What stands out | Seaside Heights | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 23.4% | 9.6% |
| More smokers | 19.9% | 10.9% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11.6% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The top destinations are Toms River Township (16%), Lakewood Township (6%) and Brick Township (5%). Only 8% of working residents stay in Seaside Heights for work; the rest commute out. Employers in Seaside Heights added 102 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 578. Seaside Heights’ typical journey to work comes in at 31 minutes.
| Seaside Heights | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 34% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
866 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 39 properties have flooded more than once.
Seaside Heights’ FEMA hazard score stands at 74 of 100. 866 flood insurance claims have been paid here since 1978. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 64% come from inland flooding and 14% from strong winds. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Seaside Heights after 5 declared disasters, most recently in 2016.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Home values rose 57% in five years, to about $735K, against 35% across New Jersey. 69.7% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 51.6% across New Jersey.
Homes sold in Seaside Heights spent a median 115 days on the market. In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 10%. Seaside Heights: 40% of households live in a home they own.
| Seaside Heights | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 40% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,480 a month | $1,780 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
July afternoons reach 85° and January nights drop to 26°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
20 within 15 miles of the center of Seaside Heights
About 6 of every 100 Seaside Heights residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
2,887 counted in 2010 and 2,440 in 2020; an estimated 2,549 in 2025.
The decline has turned around: up 4.6% since 2020, after a 15.5% drop in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, US
Seaside Heights is a borough situated on the Jersey Shore, within Ocean County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 census, the borough's population was 2,440, a decrease of 447 (−15.5%) from the 2010 census count of 2,887, which in turn had reflected a decline of 268 (−8.5%) from the 3,155 counted in the 2000 census. Seaside Heights is located on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates the Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. During the summer, the borough attracts a crowd largely under the age of 21, mainly highschoolers and young adults, drawn to a community with boardwalk entertainment and one of the few shore communities with sizable numbers …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Seaside Heights.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seaside Heights | #459 | D− | D | D− | C | C− |
| Dover Beaches South | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Toms River Township | #317 | C+ | D | B | C+ | A− |
| Berkeley Township | #354 | C | C | B+ | C | B+ |
Dover Beaches South isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Seaside Heights with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Seaside Heights grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns and #459 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades C− for health, D− for safety and C for schools. Safety 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.
