Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Stafford Township grades B overall, 241st among New Jersey's 466 graded towns. It has 64 miles of trail and 52% conserved land. It is healthier than 84% of U.S. towns and the median household earns $118K. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $426K, 4.3 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 52% of the land in Stafford Township is conserved, against 11% in New Jersey’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, 7,786 acres with 5.6 miles of trail.
Where Stafford Township beats most towns.
Census counts: 883 in 1790, a low of 830 in 1920, 28,617 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 5 maps from 1888 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Stafford Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Stafford Township, 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 Stafford Township.
Stafford Township keeps more of its land conserved than most of New Jersey, is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in New Jersey.
Its 18,206 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 98% of New Jersey towns.
64 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves. At 1.2 miles per square mile, Stafford Township’s trail density is where New Jersey’s towns sit at 0.7 and U.S. towns at 0.4.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge | 5.6 mi | 7,786 |
| 2. Bass River State Forest | 4.2 mi | 373 |
| 3. Nautilus Park | 1.2 mi | 31 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its B− is the best School Grade on its borders; Long Beach Township (C+) is next.
Three of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Regional Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 865 | B− |
| Southern Regional High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,820 | B− |
| Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental ScienceTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 275 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Within New Jersey it is less healthy than 54% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar. Against the 6,084 U.S. towns with household incomes like Stafford Township’s, it is healthier than 68%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
29% of adults feel lonely in Stafford Township. Stafford Township beats the New Jersey average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 16% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Stafford Township.
| Stafford Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 16% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 28% | 35% |
| What stands out | Stafford Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.3% | 14.3% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.2% | 12.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.2% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Stafford Township for work: only 17% work in town. Since 2013, Stafford Township has added 1,354 jobs, to 8,887 in 2023. 3% of Stafford Township residents live below the poverty line.
| Stafford Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 3% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $118,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 10.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 60% of New Jersey’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 346 to 225 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
4,207 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 118 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 68% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 4,207 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Stafford Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Stafford Township has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 25° and about 10 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Stafford Township’s median age is 47.7 years. Stafford Township has grown 8.2% since 2020, to 30,958 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 41% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 44% across New Jersey.
| Stafford Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 47.7 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 18% | 21% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 41% | 45% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.7 points. Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women.
| Stafford Township | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.2% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.5% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.2% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.5% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.8% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.1% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 17.6% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.4% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.7% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.4% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.5% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.4% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.8% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.8% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.1% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Stafford Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw26 mi Park & preservePine Barrens
Big draw31 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great Adventure2.2M visitors a year6 mi BeachLong Beach Island
26 mi Stadium & arenaBoardwalk Hall
30 mi LandmarkLucy the Elephant
9 mi LighthouseBarnegat LighthousePine Barrens: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Six Flags Great Adventure: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Boardwalk Hall: Jack Boucher, Public domain · Lucy the Elephant: User:dtcdthingy 3:30 pm 30th July 2004 (Minolta Dimage X20), Public domain · Barnegat Lighthouse: L'Aquatique, CC BY-SA 3.0
None within 15 miles of Stafford Township; the nearest are
About 7 of every 100 Stafford Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
Coastal flooding makes up 16% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
17.4% 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
2 places in Stafford Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Township in Ocean County, New Jersey, US
Stafford Township is a township situated on the Jersey Shore in southern Ocean County, within the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 28,617, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 2,082 (+7.8%) from the 26,535 recorded at the 2010 census, which in turn reflected an increase of 4,003 (+17.8%) from the 22,532 counted in the 2000 census. Stafford Township is the gateway to the resort communities on Long Beach Island, with Route 72 providing the sole road access to the island, ending in Ship Bottom as it crosses Barnegat Bay via the Manahawkin Bay Bridge (formally known as the Dorland J. Henderson Memorial Bridge). The Garde…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Stafford Township.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stafford Township | #241 | B | C− | B+ | B− | A− |
| Barnegat Township | #310 | B− | D | A | C+ | B+ |
| Long Beach Township | #336 | C+ | D− | B− | C+ | A |
| Ship Bottom | — | — | D | — | C+ | A |
| Surf City | — | — | D− | — | C+ | A |
| Eagleswood Township | — | — | C | — | D | A− |
| Harvey Cedars | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Ship Bottom, Surf City and Eagleswood Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Ship Bottom, Surf City and Eagleswood Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Harvey Cedars isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Stafford Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Stafford Township grades B overall, better than 61% of U.S. towns and #241 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A− for health, B+ for safety and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
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