Best PlacesToms River, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Toms River, 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.
Toms River ranks 1,086th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Toms River
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 Toms River
The parts of Toms River, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Island Beach Heights
Silver Ridge
Lake Ridge
Dover Heights
Holiday Heights
Toms River shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 10% of the country and others in the top 8%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Toms River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Toms River ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- QuietBetter than 87% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 78% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 77% of cities
Where Toms River ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 54 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,478 a month, better than only 16% of cities
- School gradeC−, better than only 17% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Toms River
A household needs to earn about $122,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Toms River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $105,600, 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 Toms River's effective rate of 1.44%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Toms River
Toms River runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Toms River.
Who works in Toms River, and how
Work in Toms River centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Toms River
Toms River has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. The coast is about 10 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Toms River and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Toms River, month by month
Toms River sees roughly 54 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 22° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 90° | 77° | 65° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Toms River
The nearest airport, Trenton Mercer, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around Toms River
Schools across Toms River average a C−, better than 17% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Cedar Creek Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- North Dover Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Hooper Avenue Elementary SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- Toms River Intermediate School NorthC− · 28% proficient
- Manchester Township Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Lake Riviera Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Ocvts Grunin Performing Arts AcademyC+ · 40% proficient
- Toms River High School NorthC+ · 35% proficient
- Lacey Township High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Toms River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Toms River 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 Toms River against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Toms River suits
Families
Schools land around the 17th percentile and crime safety beats 94%.
Common questions about living in Toms River
Is Toms River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Toms River ranks 1,086th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, quiet, and big-city access, and lowest on the weather and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Toms River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $428,324. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $105,600 median income, cost of living beats 53% of cities.
Is Toms River safe?
Yes, Toms River is safer than 94% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $129 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Toms River?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 22. That works out to about 54 pleasant days a year, more than 1% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Toms River?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Island Beach Heights, Silver Ridge, and Lake Ridge. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Toms River with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Toms River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Toms River 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.
Toms River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Toms River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Toms River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Toms River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Toms River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Toms River 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.