Toms River is a larger medium-sized coastal town (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 86,452 people and 17 constituent neighborhoods, Toms River is the sixth largest community in New Jersey.

Unlike some towns, Toms River isn't mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Toms River are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Toms River is a town of sales and office workers, professionals, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Toms River who work in office and administrative support jobs (16.17%), sales jobs (14.38%), and management occupations (8.81%).

Because of many things, Toms River is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Toms River a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The town's good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Toms River has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Toms River's overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.

One of the nice things about Toms River is that is it nautical, meaning that parts of the town are somewhat historic and on the ocean, or touch tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

One downside of living in Toms River is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Toms River, the average commute to work is 30.98 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.

Toms River is a very car-oriented town: 96.6% of people use private automobiles to get to and from work. In fact, the general consensus among people in Toms River is that if you need to get anywhere, you're going to have to drive. The landscape is very car-oriented, and features shopping centers, strip malls, parking lots, and wide streets. Pedestrians are discouraged by the fact that sidewalks are not always present, which makes attempts at walking downright daunting in certain parts of town.

Toms River Information and Demographics

The overall education level of Toms River is somewhat higher than in the average US city of 14.96%: 23.68% of adults 25 and older in the town have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Toms River in 2000 was $24,831, which is lower middle income relative to New Jersey, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $99,324 for a family of four.

The people who call Toms River home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Toms River is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Toms River include Italian, Irish, German, Polish, and English.

The most common language spoken in Toms River is English. Some people also speak Spanish.