Best PlacesNeptune City, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Neptune City, 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.
Neptune City ranks 11,224th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Neptune City
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.
Neptune City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Neptune City ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
Where Neptune City ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,493 a month, better than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Neptune City
A household needs to earn about $130,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Neptune City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $99,675, 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 Neptune City's effective rate of 1.86%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Neptune City
Neptune City's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Neptune City.
Who works in Neptune City, and how
Work in Neptune City centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Neptune City
Neptune City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of towns. The coast is about 3 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Neptune City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Neptune City, month by month
Neptune City sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 64° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Neptune City
John F Kennedy International sits about 33 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 31.0 million passengers in 2025, with 249 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Neptune City
Schools across Neptune City average a D−, better than 4% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Central Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Shark River Hills Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Woodrow WilsonD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wall Intermediate SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Neptune Middle SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Wall High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Neptune High SchoolD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Neptune City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Neptune City 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 Neptune City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Neptune City
Is Neptune City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Neptune City ranks 11,224th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, cell coverage, and big-city access, 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 Neptune City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $434,423. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $99,675 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is Neptune City safe?
Neptune City is safer than 41% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $228 per resident a year.
Compare Neptune City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Neptune City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Neptune City 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.
Neptune City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Neptune City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Neptune City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Neptune City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Neptune City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Neptune City 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.