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Place dossier plate
SheetNJ-LONG-BRANCH-NJ · Long Branch, NJ 32,184 pop · income 54th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Long Branch
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Long Branch on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Massillon · lowest
55,308
Massillon · lowest
55,308 median HH income
26.0% of the leader · rank #1
Toomsuba · near
73,380
Toomsuba · near
73,380 median HH income
34.5% of the leader · rank #2
Long Branch · this city
73,381
Long Branch · this city
73,381 median HH income
34.5% of the leader · rank #3
Tebbetts · near
73,381
Tebbetts · near
73,381 median HH income
34.5% of the leader · rank #4
Brookings · near
73,384
Brookings · near
73,384 median HH income
34.5% of the leader · rank #5
Dallas · near
73,387
Dallas · near
73,387 median HH income
34.5% of the leader · rank #6
Westfield · highest
212,700
Westfield · highest
212,700 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Long Branch on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 32,184.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Long Branch - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Long Branch lands in the 54th percentile for household income and the 35th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
54th
percentile, household income
86th
percentile, home value
94th
percentile, median rent
35th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Long Branch, NJ
32,184 people live in Long Branch, New Jersey - a small city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Long Branch households earn a median of $73,381 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 11.7%. Long Branch's housing stock carries a median value of $519,000, and the median resident age is 35.4 years. About 34.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 61.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 59 residential building permits were authorized in Long Branch (Construction Slowdown), down 87% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 1869.4 in FBI UCR data, near the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
New Jersey carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts New Jersey at 108.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Above Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $2,132 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $275 across New Jersey, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. The average commute for Long Branch workers runs 28.6 minutes, with 56.0% driving alone and 8.3% working from home. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 90.8 out of 100 (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Long Branch's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to housing and income to population change to schools and households to reported crime to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Long Branch, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Long Branch?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 56.0%. The reported mean trip to work is 28.6 minutes.
How far does income reach against housing in Long Branch?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 7.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 11.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Is Long Branch growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,656 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 59 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Long Branch?
Within New Jersey, the closest population matches are Garfield (32,502 residents, $75,701 income); Westfield (30,760 residents, $212,700 income); Princeton (30,451 residents, $184,113 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hutto, TX (32,188 residents); Massillon, OH (32,177 residents); Maryville, TN (32,196 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Long Branch?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 34.5% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Matched public schools
2
Bachelor's degree+
34.5%
Poverty estimate
11.7%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Long Branch?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1869.4 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 18% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1627.8
Violent rate
241.6
Total reported rate
1869.4
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Above median income · poverty 11.7% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
108.8 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, New Jersey average
D
City profile score · Long Branch, NJ
40/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share B-
34.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C-
$73,381
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime D
242 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate F
11.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living F
108.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Long Branch profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 66/100 (B-) · 34.5%
Household income: 53/100 (C-) · $73,381
Violent crime: 42/100 (D) · 242 /100k
Poverty rate: 33/100 (F) · 11.7%
Cost of living: 10/100 (F) · 108.8 index
Where Long Branch sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Long Branch's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Long Branch highlighted among 12 peers.Read the chart values
Long Branch, NJ (this city): home $519,000, crime 1,869/100k
Hutto, TX : home $315,800, crime 1,092/100k
Massillon, OH : home $138,800, crime 2,134/100k
Maryville, TN : home $310,600, crime 638/100k
Wheat Ridge, CO : home $584,700, crime 4,947/100k
O'Fallon, IL : home $274,100, crime 1,215/100k
Garfield, NJ : home $454,300, crime 1,950/100k
Westfield, NJ : home $930,500, crime 572/100k
Princeton, NJ : home $1,040,400, crime 765/100k
Rahway, NJ : home $362,300, crime 990/100k
Englewood, NJ : home $497,500, crime 1,309/100k
Fair Lawn, NJ : home $532,700, crime 981/100k
How does Long Branch compare to other US cities?
Here's how Long Branch stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income54% higher than other cities
Home value86% pricier than other cities
Median rent94% pricier than other cities
Safety35% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just New Jersey and the picture shifts: Long Branch ranks #174 of 238 New Jersey cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Long Branch against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to New Jersey only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
New Jersey-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Long Branch near the bottom of New Jersey's cities
Among the 686 New Jersey cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Long Branch ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Long Branch only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#560 of 659
15th percentile in New Jersey
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 686
0th percentile in New Jersey
Median Home Value
#203 of 672
70th percentile in New Jersey
Poverty Rate
#78 of 680
88th percentile in New Jersey
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#425 of 686
38th percentile in New Jersey
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within New Jersey only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
54th percentile nationally for median household income · 35th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Long Branch's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Long Branch's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Long Branch's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$519,00014th percentilemore affordable than 14% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Long Branch's home-value-to-income ratio: 7.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,702 of 15,516
More affordable than 5% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,120 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 7.1×, Long Branch sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,702 of 15,516 and #3,120 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$73,381Long Branch, NJ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Long Branch, NJ median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Long Branch, NJ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)34.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)11.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)61.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
32,184
Median Income
$73,381
Median Home Value
$519,000
Median Age
35.4
Poverty Rate
11.7%
Labor force participation
61.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
34.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1869.4
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
241.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1627.8
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Long Branch's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
31,665 residents
2021
32,445 residents
2022
32,490 residents
2023
32,911 residents
2024
33,272 residents
2025
33,321 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
59
housing units authorized
Single-Family
32
detached homes
Multifamily
27
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
460
71
389
$65.5M
2020
1,062
216
846
$114.9M
2021
671
138
533
$48.3M
2022
199
55
144
$29.5M
2023
61
21
40
$24.7M
2024
59
32
27
$26.2M
Permit volume decreased 87% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
28.6 minutes
Drive Alone
56.0%
Carpool
23.5%
Public Transit
4.8%
Walk
2.4%
Work from Home
8.3%
Other
5.0%
Based on 15,631 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
New Jersey statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $275
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across New Jersey at $275 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $60 ).
These are New Jersey statewide averages, not a meter reading for Long Branch. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
New Jersey's BEA cost-of-living index is 108.8 (Well Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Long Branch is $2,132/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to New Jersey statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 90.8 / 100 (Very High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a New Jersey statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Long Branch sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Long Branch compares to similar-size New Jersey cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.