Year-Round Living: A Small, Affluent Town That Empties Out and Fills Back Up
Avalon carried just 1,243 year-round residents at the 2020 census -- down 6.8% from 1,334 counted a decade earlier in 2010. That is a genuinely small permanent population, packed into a total area of only 5.06 square miles (4.27 square miles of land and 0.79 square miles of water) on Seven Mile Island, shared with neighboring Stone Harbor to the south. Two facts define what year-round life here actually means: this is one of the most affluent communities on the entire Jersey Shore, with Forbes naming Avalon the 65th most expensive ZIP code in the United States in 2007 and Washingtonian magazine calling it the "chicest beach" in the Mid-Atlantic; and the town's own summer population swells to as many as 45,000, a crowd more than thirty-five times the size of the year-round community. This page does not state a current (2026) population figure, current home prices, current property tax rates, or specific school, hospital, or grocery names -- none of that was independently confirmed for this page, and none of it is invented here.
A Genuinely Small Year-Round Population
The 2020 census recorded 1,243 people living in Avalon year-round -- a decline of 6.8% from the 1,334 residents counted in 2010. That is a small number by almost any measure, and anyone weighing a full-time move here deserves to see it stated plainly rather than folded into vague language about a "close-knit community." The borough occupies a total of just 5.06 square miles (4.27 square miles of land and 0.79 square miles of water), sitting on the northern half of Seven Mile Island in Cape May County, sharing that island with Stone Harbor to the south.
We do not have a confirmed current (2026) population figure beyond the 2020 census count, and we are not going to estimate one. What that 1,243 figure means in practice is that year-round life in Avalon happens at a genuinely small scale -- a permanent community small enough that residents likely recognize one another, set inside a town built for a much larger, seasonal audience. Anyone evaluating a move here should treat 1,243 as the most recent hard number available and confirm anything more current directly with the Borough of Avalon or Cape May County government.
An Independently Confirmed Affluent Character
This is not a marketing claim -- it is independently documented, and more specific than similar claims made about other Jersey Shore towns. Forbes named Avalon the 65th most expensive ZIP code in the United States in 2007. The 2010 census recorded a median household income of $88,527, a median family income of $135,781, and a per capita income of $99,655 for Avalon. Wikipedia describes Avalon as "one of the most affluent communities along the Jersey Shore," with "some of the most expensive real estate on the East Coast," and Washingtonian magazine named Avalon the "chicest beach" in the Mid-Atlantic. Those are dated figures -- 2007 and 2010 -- and should not be read as current pricing or income levels, but they establish a real, independently confirmed identity: this is an upscale resort community, not merely a quiet beach town.
That affluent identity carries real implications for year-round residents. A high-end housing stock built substantially for wealthy seasonal buyers can mean a smaller share of homes occupied full-time, a local economy geared heavily toward the summer trade, and a cost of living shaped by demand from people who do not live there most of the year. We do not have a confirmed current median home price, current property tax rate, or current rental figures, and none are invented here.
A Town of 1,243 That Becomes a Town of Up to 45,000
The single fact that shapes everyday life in Avalon more than any other: a year-round population of 1,243 shares this 5.06-square-mile borough with a summer population that swells to as many as 45,000. That is more than a thirty-five-fold seasonal swing, concentrated on a barrier island footprint that does not grow with the crowd.
For someone considering a year-round move, that swing is worth sitting with rather than glossing over. The winter months here mean a genuinely small, quiet town of about 1,243 people. The summer months mean traffic, crowds, and demand for parking, services, and restaurant seating that a town of 1,243 was never sized for on its own -- because it was not built for 1,243; it was built to also accommodate the tens of thousands who arrive seasonally. We do not have confirmed current figures on summer traffic volume, parking capacity, or seasonal business hours, and none are stated here.
"Cooler by a Mile": A Real Motto Grounded in Real Geography
Avalon's civic motto, "Cooler by a Mile," is not just a slogan -- it reflects a real geographic fact: the town's position extends roughly one mile farther into the Atlantic Ocean than neighboring barrier islands. For a year-round resident, that positioning is a genuine, tangible feature of the coastline itself, not a marketing invention.
Avalon's native landscape was also originally a juniper forest -- a detail worth knowing honestly rather than romantically. That native landscape has largely disappeared due to development, and hills and native juniper are now described as extremely rare in the town today. The borough also maintains rock jetties and ongoing beach-replenishment efforts to protect against erosion, though we do not have a confirmed current jetty count, specific project name, cost, or completion date, and none are invented here.
A Real, Literary Naming Story Worth Knowing
Around 1887-1888, Rev. Charles Henry Bond, a colleague at the Seven Mile Beach Company then developing the island, proposed the name "Avalon" because the island's then-untamed landscape of forests, dunes, ponds, marshes, and large cedar and oak trees reminded him of the mythical Isle of Avalon from Arthurian legend, the legendary resting place of King Arthur. Bond went on to found the town's first newspaper, naming it "The Round Table" as a second, deliberate nod to the same legend.
That history is not directly relevant to day-to-day year-round living, but it speaks to the character of the place: a town founded with deliberate, literary intent rather than a purely commercial beach development. We do not have confirmed information on whether "The Round Table" newspaper still publishes today, and none is invented here.
Shared Island, Unconfirmed Local Institutions
Avalon sits on Seven Mile Island alongside Stone Harbor, both towns founded from the same corporate entity -- the Seven Mile Beach Company, which purchased the island in 1887 and developed Avalon on its northern half and Stone Harbor on its southern half. That shared origin means the two towns have long depended on some overlapping regional infrastructure, but we do not have confirmed specific names of current schools, hospitals, medical practices, or grocery stores serving Avalon year-round residents, and we are not inventing any of those here.
Anyone considering a year-round move should independently confirm which school district, health care providers, and everyday services actually serve the borough today, directly with the Borough of Avalon, the relevant school district, and Cape May County.
A Barrier Island Footprint: Water Close on Every Side
Avalon's total area of 5.06 square miles includes 4.27 square miles of land and 0.79 square miles of water, sitting at just 7 feet of elevation above sea level on a barrier island facing the Atlantic Ocean. That is a modest land footprint with water close on multiple sides, worth weighing seriously for anyone planning to live here year-round rather than visit for a week or a season.
We do not have confirmed current flood zone designations for individual Avalon parcels, and none are stated here. Anyone evaluating a year-round move should confirm current flood-zone status directly with FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, and should not assume any specific parcel's risk based on general barrier-island geography alone.
A New Jersey Market: Taxes Work Differently Than Delaware
Avalon is this site's sixth New Jersey market, following Cape May, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, North Wildwood, and Stone Harbor, and that matters for anyone comparing it to Delaware coastal towns. New Jersey has a state sales tax and its own municipal and county property tax structure, both genuinely different from Delaware's no-sales-tax system. Given Avalon's independently confirmed affluent character and high-end housing stock, property tax exposure is worth taking seriously here in particular -- but this page does not state a specific current New Jersey sales tax rate, current Cape May County or Borough of Avalon property tax rate, or specific assessment figures, since none of those were independently confirmed for this page.
Anyone evaluating a year-round move to Avalon should confirm current tax rates and rules directly with Cape May County government, the Borough of Avalon's own finance office, and the State of New Jersey.
What This Means for Anyone Considering a Year-Round Move
Put together: a 2020 census population of 1,243 (down 6.8% from 1,334 in 2010), a total footprint of just 5.06 square miles on Seven Mile Island, an independently confirmed affluent identity -- Forbes's 2007 ranking as the 65th most expensive ZIP code in the country, a 2010 median household income of $88,527 -- and a summer population that swells to as many as 45,000. These are all real, dated, confirmed facts pointing toward a place whose year-round character is genuinely defined by scale: a small, quiet, affluent permanent community living inside the shell of a much larger seasonal resort town, with real geography and history behind both its motto and its name.
This page does not state current (2026) population figures, current median home prices, active listing counts, specific current rental rates, current Cape May County or Borough of Avalon property tax rates, current New Jersey sales tax rates, or the specific names of current schools, hospitals, or grocery stores -- none of that was independently confirmed for this page, and none of it is invented here. Anyone evaluating a year-round move to Avalon should confirm current civic, tax, and school details directly with the Borough of Avalon, Cape May County government, and the relevant school district; check current flood-zone status directly with FEMA's Flood Map Service Center; and consult a licensed local real estate, tax, or legal professional before making a decision. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or financial advice.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. Data sourced from the competitive research file for Avalon, New Jersey: the 2020 census population of 1,243, down 6.8% from 1,334 in the 2010 census, across a total area of 5.06 square miles (4.27 square miles land, 0.79 square miles water) on Seven Mile Island in Cape May County, at 7 feet elevation, shared with neighboring Stone Harbor to the south; a summer population swelling to as many as 45,000; Forbes's 2007 ranking of Avalon as the 65th most expensive ZIP code in the United States; the 2010 census figures of $88,527 median household income, $135,781 median family income, and $99,655 per capita income; Wikipedia's description of Avalon as "one of the most affluent communities along the Jersey Shore" with "some of the most expensive real estate on the East Coast"; Washingtonian magazine's naming of Avalon as the "chicest beach" in the Mid-Atlantic; the "Cooler by a Mile" motto reflecting Avalon's real position roughly one mile farther into the Atlantic than neighboring barrier islands; the borough's original juniper-forest landscape, now largely lost to development; Rev. Charles Henry Bond's naming of the town around 1887-1888 for the mythical Isle of Avalon of Arthurian legend, and his founding of the town's first newspaper, "The Round Table"; and Avalon's shared founding with Stone Harbor via the Seven Mile Beach Company's 1887 purchase of Seven Mile Island. Current (2026) population, home price, rental rate, and tax-rate figures beyond what's confirmed above were not independently verified this research pass and are not invented here, nor are specific current school, hospital, or grocery names, nor current jetty counts or beach-replenishment project details -- confirm directly with the Borough of Avalon, Cape May County government, the relevant school district, the State of New Jersey, and FEMA's Flood Map Service Center. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or financial advice.