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Place dossier plate
SheetNJ-SHIP-BOTTOM-NJ · Ship Bottom, NJ 1,009 pop · income 84th 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 Ship Bottom
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Ship Bottom on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Ninilchik · lowest
53,125
Ninilchik · lowest
53,125 median HH income
24.1% of the leader · rank #1
Ship Bottom · this city
111,250
Ship Bottom · this city
111,250 median HH income
50.4% of the leader · rank #2
Bedford Park · near
111,250
Bedford Park · near
111,250 median HH income
50.4% of the leader · rank #3
Oakland Acres · near
111,250
Oakland Acres · near
111,250 median HH income
50.4% of the leader · rank #4
Dundas · near
111,250
Dundas · near
111,250 median HH income
50.4% of the leader · rank #5
Mount Charles… · near
111,250
Mount Charles… · near
111,250 median HH income
50.4% of the leader · rank #6
Flagtown · highest
220,677
Flagtown · highest
220,677 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Ship Bottom on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 1,009.
Ship Bottom ranks in the 84th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
84th
percentile, household income
96th
percentile, home value
94th
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Ship Bottom, NJ
New Jersey's Ship Bottom is a small town, with 1,009 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Ship Bottom report a median income of $111,250 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 2.0%. Ship Bottom's housing stock carries a median value of $910,000, and the median resident age is 63.2 years. Educational attainment runs 61.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 45.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 15 residential building permits were authorized in Ship Bottom (Slowing), down 12% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data.
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). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $2,132 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $275 across New Jersey, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 90.8 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Ship Bottom'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 comparison shortlist to housing and income to schools and households to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Ship Bottom, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, local building permits, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Ship Bottom?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 69.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Which cities make useful reference points for Ship Bottom?
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.
Within New Jersey, the closest population matches are Far Hills (1,004 residents, $152,188 income); Cologne (1,023 residents, $101,723 income); The Ponds (995 residents, $70,825 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Pisgah, AL (1,009 residents); Ninilchik, AK (1,009 residents); Mayfield, NY (1,009 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Ship Bottom?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 8.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What does the education layer cover for Ship Bottom?
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.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 61.4% 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.
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.
Population change
Is Ship Bottom growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +22 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 15 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
2020 estimate
1,104
2025 estimate
1,126
Period change
+2.0%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
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 A+
61.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate A
2.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income A-
$111,250
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
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.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Ship Bottom profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 93/100 (A+) · 61.4%
Poverty rate: 86/100 (A) · 2.0%
Household income: 82/100 (A-) · $111,250
Cost of living: 10/100 (F) · 108.8 index
How does Ship Bottom compare to other US cities?
Where Ship Bottom sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income84% higher than other cities
Home value96% pricier than other cities
Median rent94% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Ship Bottom 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 Ship Bottom near the bottom of New Jersey's cities
Among the 686 New Jersey cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Ship Bottom ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Ship Bottom only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#292 of 659
56th percentile in New Jersey
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 686
0th percentile in New Jersey
Median Home Value
#48 of 672
93rd percentile in New Jersey
Poverty Rate
#424 of 680
36th percentile in New Jersey
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#148 of 686
78th 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
84th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Ship Bottom's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$910,0004th percentilemore affordable than 4% 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
Ship Bottom's home-value-to-income ratio: 8.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#15,089 of 15,516
More affordable than 3% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#11,071 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 8.2×, Ship Bottom sits in the pressured band:
national rank #15,089 of 15,516 and #11,071 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
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
$111,250Ship Bottom, NJ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Ship Bottom, 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 Ship Bottom, NJ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)61.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)45.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,009
Median Income
$111,250
Median Home Value
$910,000
Median Age
63.2
Poverty Rate
2.0%
Labor force participation
45.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
61.4%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Ship Bottom's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,104 residents
2021
1,122 residents
2022
1,123 residents
2023
1,127 residents
2024
1,128 residents
2025
1,126 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Slowing
Total Permits (2024)
15
housing units authorized
Single-Family
15
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
14.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
17
17
0
$6.2M
2020
23
23
0
$7.5M
2021
23
23
0
$10.2M
2022
11
11
0
$6.5M
2023
19
19
0
$11.3M
2024
15
15
0
$9.0M
Permit volume decreased 12% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
69.0%
Carpool
5.7%
Public Transit
5.0%
Walk
1.9%
Work from Home
16.2%
Other
2.2%
Based on 420 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 Ship Bottom. 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 Ship Bottom 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 Ship Bottom sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Ship Bottom 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, 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.