Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Because it does well by almost any measure. Spring Lake Heights earns an A, ranked 56th of 466 in New Jersey. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 99% of U.S. towns, CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 96% of the country, and the median household earns $107K. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $721K, 7.3 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Spring Lake Heights’ trail density is 2.4 miles per square mile, above both the New Jersey town median (0.7) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Spring Lake Heights is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 97% of U.S. towns. Only 5 of New Jersey’s 530 towns score lower on history.
Where Spring Lake Heights beats most towns.
4.3% of the town is conserved land, across 3 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Spring Lake Heights is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for safety (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 3%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,221 in 1930, 4,890 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 2006 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Spring Lake Heights. Close and well known come first.
Big draw30 mi BeachConey Island
Big draw39 mi MuseumNational September 11 Memorial & Museum
Big draw21 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great Adventure2.2M visitors a year
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaBarclays Center
38 mi GardenThe Battery
30 mi LandmarkVanderbilt Family Cemetery and MausoleumConey Island: OptimumPx, Public domain · National September 11 Memorial & Museum: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0 · Six Flags Great Adventure: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Barclays Center: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · The Battery: Gryffindor, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Vanderbilt Family Cemetery and Mausoleum: Vanderbilt_Mausoleum.jpg: Staten Island post cards / Bridges derivative work: Jb, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Spring Lake 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 Spring Lake Heights.
Spring Lake Heights reports less crime than Sea Girt or any other graded neighbor and has less food insecurity than most of New Jersey.
For Spring Lake Heights, that is below New Jersey’s towns (11%) and close to U.S. towns (4.3%). 3.1 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Joseph Robertson Allaire Road Park | — | 4 |
| 2. Ocean Rd Park | — | 3 |
| 3. Veterans Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Spring Lake Heights School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Lake Heights Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 292 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests
Its A+ tops all 3 graded towns on its borders; Sea Girt (A) comes closest. Violent crime is rare: 0 reported in 2025, 0 per 1,000 residents.
Spring Lake Heights’ property crime rate is 2.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Spring Lake Heights | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.1 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its widest gap with New Jersey is food insecurity: 6.1% of its 4,170 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.3% statewide.
26% of adults feel lonely in Spring Lake Heights. Spring Lake Heights beats the New Jersey average on 19 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 12% of adults report frequent mental distress in Spring Lake Heights.
| Spring Lake Heights | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 32% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 36% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 23% |
| What stands out | Spring Lake Heights | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.1% | 14.3% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 5.6% | 12.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.8% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Spring Lake Heights for work: only 5% work in town. Since 2013, Spring Lake Heights has added 163 jobs, to 1,067 in 2023. 4.3% of Spring Lake Heights residents live below the poverty line.
| Spring Lake Heights | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 4.3% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $107,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.1% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Spring Lake Heights has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 85° and January nights drop to 25°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 55% of U.S. communities. Since 1992, 33 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Spring Lake Heights.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median rent in Spring Lake Heights is $1,863 a month.
| Spring Lake Heights | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 62% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,863 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
23 within 15 miles of the center of Spring Lake Heights
About 4 of every 100 Spring Lake Heights residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
Where Spring Lake Heights’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, US
Spring Lake Heights is a borough located in the southern coastal portion of Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,890, an increase of 177 (+3.8%) from the 2010 census count of 4,713, which in turn reflected a decline of 514 (−9.8%) from the 5,227 counted in the 2000 census. The borough of Spring Lake Heights was formed by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 19, 1927, from portions of Wall Township, based on the results of a referendum held on May 3, 1927. The borough was named for Spring Lake, which was named for a clear spring-fed lake.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Spring Lake Heights.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Lake Heights | #56 | A | D− | A+ | B+ | A+ |
| Wall Township | #198 | B+ | D | B | B | A |
| Sea Girt | — | — | D | A | A+ | A+ |
| West Belmar | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Spring Lake | #61 | A | D− | B | A+ | A+ |
Sea Girt has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. West Belmar isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Spring Lake Heights with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Spring Lake Heights grades A overall, better than 93% of U.S. towns and #56 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health, A+ for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $721,000, 25% above the New Jersey typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}