Bradley Beach is a very small coastal borough (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 4,263 people and two associated neighborhoods, Bradley Beach is the 339th largest community in New Jersey. Much of the housing stock in Bradley Beach was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic boroughs in the country.

Bradley Beach home prices are not only among the most expensive in New Jersey, but Bradley Beach real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 22.10% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

For a small borough, there is also a high proportion of single, often educated, people living in Bradley Beach. This is not typical for smaller communities in America, and adds a feeling of vibrancy to Bradley Beach.

In addition to being popular with young singles, Bradley Beach is also home to many people who can be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are educated, wealthy, executives and professionals, who have urbane tastes in books, food, and travel, whether they actually live in a big city, or choose to reside in a small town. In big or medium-sized cities, urban sophisticates tend to frequent art institutions such as opera, symphonies, ballet, live theatre, and museums.

One of the nice things about Bradley Beach is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

Bradley Beach is a small borough, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.

If knowledge is power, Bradley Beach is a pretty powerful place. 59.36% of the adults in Bradley Beach have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Bradley Beach in 2018 was $53,872, which is middle income relative to New Jersey, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $215,488 for a family of four. However, Bradley Beach contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Bradley Beach is a very ethnically-diverse borough. The people who call Bradley Beach home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Bradley Beach residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Bradley Beach also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 22.87% of the borough’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Bradley Beach include Irish, German, Italian, Polish, and English.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Bradley Beach's cultural character, accounting for 15.02% of the borough’s population.

The most common language spoken in Bradley Beach is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.