Best PlacesWest Long Branch, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Long Branch, 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.
West Long Branch ranks 6,055th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Long Branch
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.
West Long Branch's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Long Branch ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
Where West Long Branch ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,493 a month, better than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Long Branch
A household needs to earn about $206,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Long Branch home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $126,520, 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 West Long Branch's effective rate of 1.49%, 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 West Long Branch
West Long Branch runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Long Branch.
Who works in West Long Branch, and how
Work in West Long Branch centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in West Long Branch
West Long Branch has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of towns and more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. The coast is about 4 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of West Long Branch and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Long Branch, month by month
West Long Branch 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 West Long Branch
John F Kennedy International sits about 27 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 West Long Branch
Schools across West Long Branch average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wolf Hill SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Betty Mcelmon Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Ocean Township Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Maple Place Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Frank Antonides SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Township Of Ocean Intermediate SchoolC− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Shore Regional High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Ocean Township High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Monmouth Regional High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Long Branch school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Long Branch 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 West Long Branch against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Long Branch
Is West Long Branch a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Long Branch ranks 6,055th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, walkability, and population health, 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 West Long Branch expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $722,065. The overall cost of living runs about 39% above the national average. Set against a $126,520 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is West Long Branch safe?
Yes, West Long Branch is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $173 per resident a year.
Compare West Long Branch with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Long Branch. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Long Branch 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.
West Long Branch detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Long Branch: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Long Branch: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Long Branch: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Long Branch: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Long Branch 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.