Cost of Living & Housing in Atlantic City & the Cape May Shore
This region's four member places show the same pattern found elsewhere along the Jersey Shore: proximity to the beach and the strength of each town's specific tourism draw, more than raw distance, drives price -- and here that pattern runs from Atlantic City's genuinely low, casino-economy-influenced housing market up to Ocean City's near-$1 million average.
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Learn moreAtlantic City: A Casino-Economy City With Genuinely Low Housing Costs
Atlantic City's Redfin median sale price ran approximately $215,000 (essentially flat year-over-year) against a lower Zillow average of $185,935 -- both genuinely low relative to the rest of this region and to the broader Jersey Shore, even as the broader Atlantic County figure (which includes higher-priced surrounding towns) ran meaningfully higher, at approximately $445,000 year-to-date in 2026. This gap between city-proper and county-wide figures is real and worth understanding: Atlantic City itself remains a genuinely affordable coastal market despite sitting at the center of a much higher-priced county.
Wildwood and Cape May: A Real Mid-to-Upper Tier
Wildwood runs approximately $629,513 (up a real, fairly fast 7.5% year-over-year). Cape May runs somewhat higher, at approximately $685,212 (up 2.0% YoY) -- both reflecting real, sustained tourism-driven demand for this region's more historically and architecturally distinctive shore towns, discussed further below.
Ocean City: This Region's Premium Market
Ocean City runs the highest of this region's four member places at approximately $977,006 (down a modest 1.8% year-over-year) -- genuinely approaching the $1 million mark, and a real, direct reflection of Ocean City's status as one of the Jersey Shore's most consistently in-demand family-vacation and second-home markets.
Key takeaways
- Atlantic City (~$186K-$215K) is genuinely this region's most affordable market, despite sitting within a much higher-priced Atlantic County (county figure ~$445K) -- a real, disclosed city-vs-county gap worth understanding.
- Wildwood (~$630K) and Cape May (~$685K) form a real mid-to-upper tier, both appreciating at meaningfully different paces.
- Ocean City (~$977K) is this region's clear premium market, approaching the $1 million mark.
- Movers should not assume Atlantic City's low price reflects the broader region -- the surrounding shore towns run several times higher.
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