Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Today 10,403 people live in this town, first settled in 1843.
A town of contrasts. Cost of living is its weak spot: the typical home is worth about $522K, 5.3 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Where it does best is walkability — it is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns. Health is another plus (B+) — it is healthier than 74% of U.S. towns. Overall, that makes a C+, better than 37% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 335th of 466 in New Jersey. South Amboy's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 95% of U.S. towns. 57% of households are owner-occupiers in the town, where New Jersey’s towns sit at 77% and U.S. towns at 73%.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24.
Where South Amboy beats most towns.
Where South Amboy’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far South Amboy is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 8%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,626 in 1790, a low of 1,825 in 1840, 9,411 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around South Amboy. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw26 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw17 mi BeachConey Island
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw25 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw21 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 South 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 South Amboy.
South Amboy carries less natural-hazard risk than most of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding), is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in New Jersey.
Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is South Amboy Middle/High School, with 616 students. Also worth knowing: the 2 public schools in South Amboy teach 1,200 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Amboy ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 584 | C− |
| South Amboy Middle/High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 616 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 89% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $151 per resident a year; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
Paid flood insurance claims in South Amboy since 2010: 37. The town’s natural-hazard score from FEMA comes in at 20 of 100. Federal aid has come to South Amboy households in 7 declared disasters; the latest was in 2021. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 51% come from inland flooding and 14% from earthquakes.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jobs based here grew from 1,753 in 2013 to 2,468.
The top destinations are New York (10%), Edison Township (6%) and Woodbridge Township (5%). Employers in South Amboy added 715 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 2,468. In South Amboy, the middle household income is $92,000. Half of commuters travel less than 14 miles.
| South Amboy | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $92,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 11% | 17% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.5% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Within New Jersey it is less healthy than 70% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar. Its widest gap with New Jersey is tooth loss: 6.2% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9.6% statewide.
South Amboy: 16% of adults have been diagnosed with depression. A third of adults in the town have obesity; 34% feel lonely.
| South Amboy | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 16% | 23% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 28% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | South Amboy | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.2% | 9.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
A winter brings about 29 inches of snow, with January nights at 26° and July afternoons at 86°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Trails total 1.0 miles in 2 parks and preserves. South Amboy’s trail network density stands at 0.4 miles per square mile.
| South Amboy | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3% | 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. John Zdanewicz Park | — | 3 |
| 2. Raritan Bay Waterfront Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
In South Amboy, the median rent is $1,707 a month. Typical home values rose 2.9% in the year to September 2026. On the market in the town: a median 41 days to sell.
| South Amboy | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 57% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,707 a month | $1,780 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 17.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 65% of New Jersey’s graded towns.
The rate of reported violence in South Amboy is 1.3 per 1,000 residents. The property offense rate in the town is 9.7 per 1,000 residents.
| South Amboy | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 9.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
15 within 15 miles of the center of South Amboy
About 5 of every 100 South Amboy residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
13 notable people were born in South Amboy.
City in Middlesex County, New Jersey, US
South Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Raritan Bay. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,411, an increase of 780 (+9.0%) from the 2010 census count of 8,631, which in turn reflected an increase of 718 (+9.1%) from the 7,913 counted in the 2000 census. South Amboy and Perth Amboy, across the Raritan River, are collectively referred to as The Amboys. Signage for exit 11 on the New Jersey Turnpike refers to "The Amboys" as a destination.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with South Amboy.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Amboy | #335 | C+ | D | B− | D | B+ |
| Sayreville | #273 | B− | D | — | B− | A− |
| Perth Amboy | #436 | D | D | C | C− | C− |
Sayreville reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare South Amboy with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
South Amboy grades C+ overall, better than 37% of U.S. towns and #335 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades B+ for health, B− for safety and D for schools. Cost of living 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.
13 notable people were born here, including Greg Evigan and Harold Giles Hoffman.
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