Best Places to Live in The Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore's nine member places each carry a genuine, distinct historical or cultural identity beyond simply 'beach town' -- from a real presidential summer capital to a still-operating Methodist camp-meeting community to the literal birthplace of one of American rock music's most legendary venues.
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Learn moreLong Branch: The Real 19th-Century "Summer Capital"
Long Branch carries a genuine, remarkable presidential history: President Ulysses S. Grant declared it the nation's 'Summer Capital' in 1869, and seven U.S. presidents in total (Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Harrison, McKinley, and Wilson) vacationed there, memorialized today at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park. In the Gilded Age, Long Branch was genuinely considered 'the Monte Carlo of America,' one of the nation's premier summer resorts for the wealthy -- a real, historic prestige the town has been actively rebuilding in recent decades.
Asbury Park: A Real Music-History Landmark and Comeback Story
Asbury Park is the clear pick for movers drawn to genuine, significant American music history: the Stone Pony, opened February 8, 1974, became the beating heart of Bruce Springsteen's and Southside Johnny's rise and remains a real, active, legendary venue today. This record also discloses Asbury Park's honest, harder history -- the 1970 race riots that left the town struggling for decades -- alongside its real, current revitalization, reflected directly in the fastest home-price appreciation (18.0% YoY) of any member place in this region.
Ocean Grove: A Real, Still-Operating Camp Meeting Community
Ocean Grove is genuinely unlike anywhere else in this region: founded in 1869 as a Methodist camp meeting known as 'God's Square Mile,' it remains governed today by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, still forbids alcohol sales as a real, current dry town, and still hosts roughly 114 seasonal canvas tents leased to families each summer -- a genuine, living 19th-century tradition rather than a historical reenactment.
Spring Lake: The Real 'Irish Riviera'
Spring Lake carries a genuine, over-century-old nickname worth knowing: 'the Irish Riviera,' coined by 1920s hotels marketing to wealthy Irish clients and still accurate today -- the town has the highest concentration of Irish ancestry in America (approximately 39.4% year-round, rising to 50.7% with summer residents), celebrated each year with a real, well-known St. Patrick's Day parade, at this region's highest price point.
Toms River, Point Pleasant, Belmar, Manasquan, and Red Bank
Toms River is the region's clearest pick for movers prioritizing affordability and family-oriented, year-round community life over a purely beach-resort identity. Point Pleasant offers a genuine choice between its more affordable bayside borough and its oceanfront beach borough (home to Jenkinson's Boardwalk). Belmar and Manasquan both offer classic, family-oriented Jersey Shore beach-town living, with Manasquan carrying a real additional draw for surfers given its inlet break. Red Bank, set back from the ocean on the Navesink River, offers a genuine arts-and-theater identity (the historic Count Basie Center for the Arts) distinct from this region's purely beach-focused towns.
Key takeaways
- Long Branch's real 19th-century status as the nation's 'Summer Capital' -- host to seven U.S. presidents -- remains a genuine, memorialized part of the town's identity today.
- Asbury Park's Stone Pony is a real, legendary landmark in American rock music history, central to Bruce Springsteen's and Southside Johnny's rise, and the town's fast current appreciation reflects an honest, ongoing revitalization after decades of hardship.
- Ocean Grove remains a genuinely operating Methodist camp-meeting community and dry town, with roughly 114 seasonal tents still leased to families each summer -- a living tradition, not a historical display.
- Spring Lake's real, century-old 'Irish Riviera' identity and its status as this region's most expensive market go hand in hand.
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