Best PlacesCape May County, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cape May County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cape May County ranks 1,535th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cape May County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Cape May County
The parts of Cape May County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Ocean City, Marmora & Ocean View
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and schools score higher.
Woodbine
Tree cover is thicker and fewer homes sit empty.
Cape May
Disaster risk is lower, though fewer households have young kids.
Sea Isle City
It is quieter, though homes cost more.
Villas & Rio Grande
Heat risk is lower, though streets are more car-dependent.
Cape May Court House
Scores close to Villas & Rio Grande, except that crime runs higher here.
Wildwood, North Wildwood & Wildwood Crest
Biking is better, though local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Cape May County run from about the 8th to the 88th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Cape May County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cape May County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of counties
- TransitBetter than 94% of counties
- BikingBetter than 92% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of counties
Where Cape May County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,358 a month, better than only 5% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cape May County
A household needs to earn about $141,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cape May County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $95,942, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Cape May County's effective rate of 1.13%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cape May County
Cape May County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cape May County.
Who works in Cape May County, and how
Work in Cape May County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Cape May County
Cape May County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 5 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cape May County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cape May County growing, and who is moving in?
Cape May County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Philadelphia, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cape May County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cape May County, month by month
Cape May County sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 37° | 29° |
| April | 65° | 54° | 45° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 61° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Cape May County
The nearest airport, Atlantic City International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cape May County
Schools across Cape May County average a C−, better than 22% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- West Cape May Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Stone Harbor Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Ocean City Primary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Eugene A. Tighe Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Upper Township Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Avalon Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Ocean City High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Cape May County Technical High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Egg Harbor Township High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cape May County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cape May County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Cape May County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cape May County suits
Families
Schools land around the 22nd percentile and crime safety beats 57%.
Common questions about living in Cape May County
Is Cape May County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cape May County ranks 1,535th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, big-city access, and transit, and lowest on state finances and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cape May County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $516,681. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $95,942 median income, cost of living beats 65% of counties.
Is Cape May County safe?
Yes, Cape May County is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $229 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cape May County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 29. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 14% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Cape May County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Ocean City, Marmora & Ocean View, Woodbine, and Cape May. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Cape May County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cape May County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cape May County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Cape May County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cape May County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cape May County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cape May County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cape May County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cape May County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.