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Towns / New Jersey

Seaville, New Jersey

Seaville is an unincorporated community of about 2,600 people in Cape May County, New Jersey, in the Atlantic City area. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 3.3 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Philadelphia, is about 60 miles away as the crow flies.

Tourist townSuburb of Atlantic City

Population
2,589
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$461,300
Cape May County prices up 30% since 2022
Household income
$139,444
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Atlantic City area
98.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
10 miles
Cape May Court House, NJ
To Philadelphia
60 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 1.1% below the U.S. average in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Ocean City High School, about 9 miles away.
  • A hospital close byCape Regional Medical Center INC in Cape May Court House, about 10 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPhiladelphia is about 60 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Seaville meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Seaville runs into the built-up area around Atlantic City (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

Tourist town. About 1 in 4 homes is a vacation or seasonal home, a sign of a visitor economy. More restaurants, shops and weekend events than locals alone could support, with the small-town basics intact.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$461,300U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 30%Cape May County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$2,069 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$139,444U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
93%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$7,573 a yearNew Jersey: $9,590
Homes built before 1940
2%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
6%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
24%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
98.9U.S. average = 100 (the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 30% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro area, not Seaville alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
2,589The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
41.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
19%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
26%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
54%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%U.S.: 6%
College students
5%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (29%); retail (11%); transportation, warehousing and utilities (9%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
25 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
9%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
4%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Cape Regional Medical Center INC, Cape May Court House, NJ, about 10 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

There are no public schools inside Seaville itself. The nearest public high school is Ocean City High School, about 9 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on New Jersey's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
79%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
94%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
25°F
July average high
88°F
Days 90°F or hotter
28 a year
Nights at or below freezing
118 a year
Rain and melted snow
50.6 inches a year
Snow
22 inches a year
Elevation
15 feet

Weather stations: Belleplain Stn Forest (7 miles away) and Estell Manor (14 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Cape Regional Medical Center INC, Vineland, Philadelphia.

Cape May County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Independence National Historical Park56 miles
  • Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial56 miles
  • Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site57 miles
  • First State National Historical Park57 miles

Read about Seaville's history on Wikipedia.

Know Seaville?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Ocean View, NJ (unincorporated)728 people, 2 miles
  • South Seaville, NJ (unincorporated)564 people, 2 miles
  • Strathmere, NJ (unincorporated)266 people, 3 miles
  • Marmora, NJ (unincorporated)2,039 people, 5 miles
  • South Dennis, NJ (unincorporated)1,528 people, 5 miles
  • Dennisville, NJ (unincorporated)736 people, 5 miles
  • Tuckahoe, NJ (unincorporated)175 people, 6 miles
  • Beesleys Point, NJ (unincorporated)1,335 people, 6 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.