Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Upper Township grades B overall, 252nd among New Jersey's 466 graded towns. It has 20 miles of trail and 51% conserved land. The median household earns $112K and its public schools beat 78% of New Jersey towns on state tests and graduation. The catch is cost: homes are expensive, about $412K for a typical one and 5 times the Atlantic City metro’s $82K median household income. 51% of the land in Upper Township is conserved, above both New Jersey’s towns (11%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Only 45 of New Jersey’s 530 towns score lower on walkability. Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area, at 4,394 acres with 1.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Upper Township beats most towns.
Tuckahoe Station
Census counts: 1,664 in 1810, a low of 1,067 in 1830, 12,539 in 2020. The archive holds 14 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 6 maps from 1890 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Upper Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Upper Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw34 mi Park & preservePine Barrens
12 mi LandmarkLucy the Elephant
17 mi Stadium & arenaBoardwalk Hall
18 mi Theme parkSteel Pier
9 mi Theme parkGillians Wonderland Pier and Island Waterpark
19 mi Theme parkMorey's PiersPine Barrens: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lucy the Elephant: User:dtcdthingy 3:30 pm 30th July 2004 (Minolta Dimage X20), Public domain · Boardwalk Hall: Jack Boucher, Public domain · Steel Pier: Make Lemons, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Gillians Wonderland Pier and Island Waterpark: Kevin Jarrett from Northfield, NJ, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Morey's Piers: Smallbones, CC0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Upper 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 Upper Township.
Upper Township keeps more of its land conserved than most of New Jersey, has better schools than Ocean City or any other neighbor and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in New Jersey.
Its 22,260 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 97% of New Jersey towns.
20 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves. At 0.3 miles per square mile, Upper Township’s trail density is below the New Jersey town median (0.7) and near the median of U.S. towns (0.4).
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Belleplain State Forest | 5.6 mi | 1,905 |
| 2. Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area | 1.3 mi | 4,394 |
| 3. Peaslee Wildlife Management Area | 0.9 mi | 1,316 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A− is the best School Grade on its borders; Ocean City (B+) is next.
Its public schools are run by the Upper Township School District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Township Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 477 | A− |
| Families United Network Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 43 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests
The average commute for its 5,142 working residents takes 24 minutes, against 30.5 across New Jersey.
Most working residents leave Upper Township for work: only 12% work in town. 2.7% of residents live below the poverty line in Upper Township. Jobs based in Upper Township fell to 2,785 in 2023, 186 fewer than in 2013.
| Upper Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 2.7% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 9% | 17% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Within New Jersey it is less healthy than 69% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar. Against the 6,860 U.S. towns with household incomes like Upper Township’s, it is healthier than 51%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
Upper Township beats the New Jersey average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 29% of Upper Township adults feel lonely.
| Upper Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 36% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 28% | 35% |
| What stands out | Upper Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 8.2% | 11.3% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.8% | 12.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.6% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
People 65 and older are 26% of residents (17% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (21% statewide). Upper Township’s median age is 44.6 years. 46% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 44% across New Jersey.
| Upper Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 26% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 46% | 45% | 29% |
| Median age | 44.6 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.1 points. Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women. Median age: women 44.6, men 44.6.
| Upper Township | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.6% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.9% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.8% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.8% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.8% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.1% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.3% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.7% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 1.9% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.9% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.4% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.2% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 27.5% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 18% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Upper Township has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 25° and about 22 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
388 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 36 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 60% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 388 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Upper Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Upper Township
About 4 of every 100 Upper Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
Coastal flooding makes up 13% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
18.5% 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
6 places in Upper Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Township in Cape May County, New Jersey, US
Upper Township is a large township in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township, and all of Cape May County, is part of the South Jersey region of the state and of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, which is part of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD combined statistical area, also known as the Philadelphia metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 12,539, an increase of 166 (+1.3%) from the 2010 census count of 12,373, which in turn reflected an increase of 258 (+2.1%) from the 12,115 counted in the 2000 census. New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Upper Township as its 2nd best place to live in its 2008…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Upper Township.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Township | #252 | B | D | — | A− | B+ |
| Estell Manor | — | — | C− | — | C | B |
| Corbin City | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dennis Township | #356 | C | C | — | C | B |
| Ocean City | #250 | B | D− | — | B+ | A |
| Belleplain | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Strathmere | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ocean View | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Estell Manor has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Upper Township, Estell Manor, Dennis Township and Ocean City report no FBI crime data of their own. Corbin City, Belleplain, Strathmere and Ocean View aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Upper Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Upper Township grades B overall, better than 57% of U.S. towns and #252 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades B+ for health and A− 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.
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