Year-Round Living: A Small, Aging Community on a Mostly-Water Borough
Longport carried just 893 year-round residents at the 2020 census -- down a slight 0.2% from 895 counted in 2010, which was itself down 15.1% from 1,054 in 2000. That is a genuinely small, and gradually shrinking, permanent population, sitting on the southwest corner of Absecon Island in a borough with a total area of only 1.56 square miles -- just 0.40 square miles of land against 1.16 square miles of water, meaning Longport is roughly 74.49% water today, among the highest water-to-land ratios of any market on this site. The confirmed 2010 demographic snapshot adds real texture: a predominantly white population (98.88% in 2010), a median age of 58.2, and notably low poverty rates. 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, Gradually Shrinking Population
The 2020 census recorded 893 people living in Longport year-round -- down 0.2% from 895 in 2010, which was itself down 15.1% from 1,054 counted in 2000. That is a two-decade pattern worth stating plainly: a slow, gradual decline in the permanent population rather than a sudden drop, and a community that has settled at a genuinely small scale rather than one still in the middle of a sharp contraction.
We do not have a confirmed current (2026) population figure beyond the 2020 census count of 893, and we are not going to estimate one. What that number means in practice is that year-round life in Longport happens at a small scale -- fewer than 900 permanent residents sharing a borough of only 1.56 total square miles. Anyone evaluating a move here should treat 893 as the most recent hard number available and confirm anything more current directly with the Borough of Longport or Atlantic County government.
A Borough That Is Almost Three-Quarters Water
Longport's total area breaks down to just 0.40 square miles of land against 1.16 square miles of water -- roughly 74.49% of the borough is water, one of the highest water-to-land ratios of any market on this site. For a year-round resident, that is not an abstract statistic; it is the physical reality of daily life on a narrow strip of land at the southwest tip of Absecon Island, an 8.1-mile barrier island shared with Margate City, Ventnor City, and Atlantic City.
A land footprint that small, combined with a year-round population of 893, points toward a genuinely close-knit permanent community -- there is simply not much dry land, and not many full-time neighbors, to spread out across. It also means water is a constant physical presence in day-to-day life here, not a weekend backdrop. We do not have confirmed current flood zone designations for individual Longport parcels, and anyone considering a year-round move should confirm current flood-zone status directly with FEMA's Flood Map Service Center rather than assuming risk based on the borough's general geography.
A Median Age of 58.2 and What That Signals
The confirmed 2010 demographic snapshot for Longport shows a median age of 58.2, a predominantly white population (98.88%), and notably low poverty rates. A median age in the high 50s is a meaningful signal for anyone weighing a full-time move: it suggests a permanent community skewing toward retirees and established homeowners rather than young families or a working-age majority, which in turn shapes the kind of everyday services, school-age population, and social rhythm a year-round resident should expect.
We do not have a confirmed current (2026) median age, and demographic patterns can shift over fifteen-plus years, so this figure should be read as the most recent independently confirmed data point rather than a current fact. Anyone with school-age children or specific service needs should confirm current demographic and institutional details directly with the Borough of Longport and the relevant school district.
A Real, Dated Erosion Event Behind Today’s Geography
Longport's water-heavy footprint is not simply a modern coastal-erosion story -- it traces back to a documented historical event. Between 1900 and 1916, storms eroded 180 acres comprising ten numbered streets on the southern end of the barrier island, permanently reshaping Longport's geography. That is a real, historically documented loss of platted, numbered streets to the sea, not merely gradual beach narrowing, and it helps explain why the borough's land area is so small relative to its water area today.
We do not have confirmed precise boundaries or original names for those ten lost streets beyond Wikipedia's own description of "ten numbered streets" and "180 acres," and none are invented here. For a year-round resident, the practical takeaway is that Longport's current 74.49%-water geography reflects a century-old, real reshaping of the land itself -- worth knowing honestly rather than treating today's map as a fixed, unchanging feature.
A Small Community That Fills In Each Summer
A year-round population of 893 living on just 0.40 square miles of land is, by definition, a quiet off-season place. Like other Jersey Shore barrier-island boroughs, Longport's everyday rhythm as a full-time resident is shaped by a seasonal swing -- a small, settled permanent community for much of the year, followed by a summer influx of seasonal homeowners and visitors drawn to the same narrow strip of land and water.
We do not have a confirmed current summer population figure for Longport, and none is invented here. What can be said honestly is that a borough this small in land area, with a permanent population under 900, is structurally set up for a quiet off-season and a busier summer -- anyone considering a year-round move should expect that rhythm and confirm current seasonal patterns directly with the Borough of Longport.
A Small-Scale, Current Civic Story: Protecting the Dunes
In July 2025, Longport installed seven educational dune-protection signs along beach crossovers, after officials observed beachgoers -- including a July 4th Facebook post showing people standing on protective dunes to watch fireworks -- demonstrating limited public understanding of why the dunes matter. Zoning Officer Bruce Funk was quoted: "People don't understand how important the dunes are. The diversity of wildlife there is amazing," calling the dunes "more than just a pile of sand."
The $5,000 initiative was funded through a CAFRA Trust Fund donation, a coastal-development-approval requirement, with each of the four sign designs costing roughly $700 to install and featuring a QR code linking to a dedicated "Our Dunes" website. It is a small, current, honest civic story -- fitting for a borough where dry land is scarce and every acre of dune matters to a genuinely small permanent community.
A Decade-Long Secession Fight That Longport Won by Default
Longport's own recent civic history includes a real, fully litigated secession saga -- though the borough itself was not the one seeking to leave. Seaview Harbor, a waterfront subdivision of 92 homes with private docks plus a restaurant and marina with 300 boat slips, developed in the 1960s within Egg Harbor Township, spent roughly a decade (2014-2022) fighting to secede from Egg Harbor Township and join Longport instead. The motivation was a documented, dramatic property-tax differential: court evidence showed a $1 million home would face roughly $31,400 in annual taxes in Egg Harbor Township versus roughly $9,800 in Longport.
Egg Harbor Township's Township Committee denied the petition in 2016; a trial judge ruled against Seaview Harbor in February 2020; the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed that ruling in a 48-page opinion in December 2021, agreeing that deannexation would cause "the loss of social and economic diversity" and cost Egg Harbor Township roughly $2.3 million in annual tax revenue; the New Jersey Supreme Court denied further appeal shortly after, ending the litigation with Seaview Harbor remaining part of Egg Harbor Township. For anyone considering a year-round move to Longport, the case is a real, documented illustration of just how large New Jersey property-tax differentials between neighboring municipalities can be -- and a reminder that Longport's own tax structure was, at the time of that litigation, meaningfully lower than its immediate neighbor's.
A New Jersey Market: Taxes Work Differently Than Delaware
Longport is this site's tenth New Jersey market, following Cape May, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, North Wildwood, Stone Harbor, Avalon, Sea Isle City, Ocean City, and Strathmere, 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. Longport ranked 22nd among New Jersey's most expensive ZIP codes in 2018, with a median home sale price of $767,500 in 2017, and its average property tax bill reached $10,872 in 2018 -- the highest in Atlantic County that year. Those are dated figures and should not be read as current pricing or tax rates.
Anyone evaluating a year-round move to Longport should confirm current tax rates and rules directly with Atlantic County government, the Borough of Longport's own finance office, and the State of New Jersey. This page does not state a specific current New Jersey sales tax rate, current Longport or Egg Harbor Township property tax rate, or current assessment figures, since none of those were independently confirmed for this page.
What This Means for Anyone Considering a Year-Round Move
Put together: a 2020 census population of 893 (down 0.2% from 895 in 2010, itself down 15.1% from 1,054 in 2000), a median age of 58.2, a predominantly white population (98.88% in 2010) with notably low poverty rates, and a total footprint that is roughly 74.49% water -- these are all real, confirmed facts pointing toward a place whose year-round character is genuinely defined by smallness and scarcity of dry land: a quiet, aging, close-knit permanent community living on a narrow strip of a barrier island shaped by a documented early-20th-century erosion event, inside a town built to also host a seasonal summer crowd.
This page does not state current (2026) population figures, current median home prices, active listing counts, specific current rental rates, current Atlantic County or Borough of Longport 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 Longport should confirm current civic, tax, and school details directly with the Borough of Longport, Atlantic 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 Longport, New Jersey: the 2020 census population of 893, down 0.2% from 895 in the 2010 census, itself down 15.1% from 1,054 in the 2000 census; a predominantly white population (98.88% in 2010); a median age of 58.2; notably low poverty rates; a total area of 1.56 square miles (0.40 square miles land, 1.16 square miles water -- roughly 74.49% water) on the southwest corner of Absecon Island, an 8.1-mile barrier island shared with Margate City, Ventnor City, and Atlantic City; the 1900-1916 storm erosion of 180 acres comprising ten numbered streets on the barrier island's southern end; Longport's 2018 ranking as New Jersey's 22nd most expensive ZIP code, a 2017 median home sale price of $767,500, and a 2018 average property tax bill of $10,872, the highest in Atlantic County that year; the Seaview Harbor secession litigation (2014-2022), including the documented $31,400-versus-$9,800 property-tax differential on a $1 million home, Egg Harbor Township's Township Committee's 2016 denial, the February 2020 trial ruling, the New Jersey Appellate Division's December 2021 48-page opinion citing a "loss of social and economic diversity" and a projected $2.3 million annual tax-revenue loss for Egg Harbor Township, and the New Jersey Supreme Court's subsequent denial of further appeal; and the July 2025 installation of seven educational dune-protection signs funded by a $5,000 CAFRA Trust Fund donation, including Zoning Officer Bruce Funk's quoted remarks. 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 precise boundaries of the streets lost to erosion -- confirm directly with the Borough of Longport, Atlantic 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.