Best PlacesCape May, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cape May, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cape May ranks 23,608th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cape May
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.
Cape May's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cape May ranks high
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of towns
Where Cape May ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,358 a month, better than only 7% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cape May
A household needs to earn about $147,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cape May home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $84,711, 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's effective rate of 1.04%, 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
Cape May 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.
Who works in Cape May, and how
Work in Cape May centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Cape May
Cape May has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of towns. The coast is about 3 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Cape May and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cape May, month by month
Cape May sees roughly 69 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
The nearest airport, Atlantic City International, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cape May
Schools across Cape May average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Maud Abrams SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Cape May City Elementary SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Richard M. Teitelman Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- Middle Township Elementary #4D+ · 25% proficient
- Sandman Consolidated SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Lower Cape May Regional High SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Middle Township High SchoolD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cape May school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cape May 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cape May
Is Cape May a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cape May ranks 23,608th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, biking, and walkability, 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 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $543,987. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $84,711 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Cape May safe?
Cape May is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $225 per resident a year.
Compare Cape May with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cape May. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cape May 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cape May: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cape May: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cape May: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cape May: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cape May 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.
- 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.