Spring Lake 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 2,751 people and just one neighborhood, Spring Lake is the 390th largest community in New Jersey. Spring Lake has seen a significant amount of newer housing growth in recent years. Quite often, new home construction is the result of new residents moving in who are middle class or wealthier, attracted by jobs, a healthy local economy, or other amenities as they leave nearby or far away areas for greener pastures. This seems to be the case in Spring Lake, where the median household income is $146,976.00.
Spring Lake home prices are not only among the most expensive in New Jersey, but Spring Lake real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.
Spring Lake is a decidedly white-collar borough, with fully 93.26% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Spring Lake is a borough of managers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Spring Lake who work in management occupations (29.83%), business and financial occupations (15.53%), and sales jobs (14.71%).
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 26.86% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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.
In addition, Spring Lake is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates", which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre.
Spring Lake is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The borough’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Spring Lake’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.
Spring Lake is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.
One downside of living in Spring Lake is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Spring Lake, the average commute to work is 31.24 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the borough, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative.
Even though Spring Lake is a smaller borough, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly taxis for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding cities.
If knowledge is power, Spring Lake is a pretty powerful place. 81.26% of the adults in Spring Lake 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 Spring Lake in 2022 was $119,203, which is wealthy relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $476,812 for a family of four.
The people who call Spring Lake home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Spring Lake residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Spring Lake include Irish, Italian, German, English, and Polish.
The most common language spoken in Spring Lake is English. Other important languages spoken here include Slavic languages and Spanish.
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Spring Lake, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
is a neighborhood that is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Many times, such places have amenities that bring locals and visitors to the waterfront for recreational activities or to check out the scenery. In some densely populated areas that are less financially well-off, the neighborhood waterfront can be relatively industrial and less open to recreation. In addition to being coastal, is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.
In addition, one way that the neighborhood really stands out, is that it has more large 4, 5, or additional bedroom homes and real estate than 98.0% of the neighborhoods in America. When you walk or drive around this neighborhood, you'll instantly notice the size of the homes here which definitely makes a strong visual statement.
Furthermore, despite all of the residential real estate here in the neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 34.7%, which is higher than 96.6% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of children living in poverty of any neighborhood in the United States. In a nation where approximately 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, the community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
In addition, if you're a regular supporter of the arts and enjoy outings to the theatre, weekend boutique-ing, or even a finely aged wine with dinner, than you're in good company with the people of the neighborhood. This neighborhood is uniquely immersed with more "urban sophisticates" than 99.4% of neighborhoods across the country. The people here truly stand out as a class among their own. They are an exclusive community characterized by refined tastes, cultural inclinations, and the means to live well. Urban sophisticates live a big city lifestyle, whether or not they live in or near a big city. They are educated executives or managers by week, and serial patrons of the arts by weekend. If this lifestyle pertains to you, than you'll certainly feel right at home in the neighborhood. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for highly educated executives and active retirees.
Also, astoundingly, NeighborhoodScout's research reveals that this single neighborhood has a higher concentration of married couples living here than 99.1% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Whether they have school-aged children or not, married couples are the rule in the neighborhood. If you are a married couple, you may find many people here with a similar lifestyle, and perhaps common interests. But if you are single, you might not find many other singles here.
Finally, do you like to read, write, and learn? Are you curious about the world? If so, this neighborhood may be a good fit for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that a full 81.3% of the adults living in the neighborhood have earned at least a bachelor's degree. This is a higher rate than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.0% of U.S. neighborhoods. In this way, this neighborhood truly stands out.
Executives, managers and professionals make up 72.0% of the workforce in the neighborhood which, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is a higher proportion of such high-level people than is found in 96.1% of the neighborhoods in America. For this reason, this neighborhood really stands out as unique.
Regardless of the means by which residents commute, this neighborhood has a length of commute that is notable. Long commutes can be brutal. They take time, money, and energy, leaving less of you for yourself and your family. The residents of the neighborhood unfortunately have the distinction of having, on average, a longer commute than most any neighborhood in America. 10.2% of commuters here travel more than one hour just one-way to work. That is more than two hours per day. This percentage with two-hour + round-trip commutes is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 95.8% of all neighborhoods in America.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Irish and Italian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 39.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Irish ancestry and 24.7% have Italian ancestry.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Spring Lake are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 92.2% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 72.0% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 20.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (6.7%).
Languages
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 96.1% of households.
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Spring Lake, NJ, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (39.6%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (24.7%), and residents who report German roots (10.2%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (5.3%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (4.0%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (33.9% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America. However, there is also a significant group of residents (10.2%) who commute over an hour in each direction.
Here most residents (63.8%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.
