The Real Cost of Owning in Ship Bottom, New Jersey
Ship Bottom is a 0.99-square-mile borough (0.71 square miles of land, 0.28 square miles of water) at the northern gateway to Long Beach Island in Ocean County, New Jersey, where Route 72 crosses the Manahawkin Bay Bridge onto the island. This page does not state a current median home price, active listing count, or property tax rate for Ship Bottom, because none was independently confirmed during this research pass, and inventing one would do a prospective buyer more harm than a documented gap does. What is confirmed, and belongs in any real cost-of-ownership conversation here regardless of what a listing shows, is that Ship Bottom sits entirely within a FEMA-designated Special Flood Hazard Area, carries a documented 15% Community Rating System discount on flood insurance, and was the single hardest-hit municipality on all of Long Beach Island during Hurricane Sandy, with 46% of its housing stock damaged. None of that is meant to scare a buyer off. It is meant to inform one. Get current pricing, tax, and insurance figures from a local real estate agent, Ocean County records, and a licensed insurance agent before budgeting a purchase.
This Site's Fifteenth New Jersey Market, and the First on Long Beach Island
Ship Bottom is this site's fifteenth New Jersey market, following Cape May, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, North Wildwood, Stone Harbor, Avalon, Sea Isle City, Ocean City, Strathmere, Longport, Margate City, Ventnor City, Atlantic City, and Brigantine, and it is the first market this site has built on Long Beach Island specifically, a separate barrier island roughly 30 miles north of Atlantic City reached by its own bridge rather than anything connected to the Atlantic City or Cape May island chain. The same caution that has applied at every prior New Jersey build applies here: New Jersey has a real state sales tax and its own property-tax structure, genuinely different from a no-sales-tax state, and none of that should be assumed to work the way it does anywhere else. This page will not state a specific current New Jersey state sales-tax rate or a specific current Ship Bottom or Ocean County property tax rate, because neither was confirmed this research pass.
What is confirmed is scale: Ship Bottom is small, at 0.99 square miles total, with 2020 census population of 1,098 year-round residents, down 5.0% from 2010. That is a genuinely small permanent tax and service base for a borough that, as discussed below, swells to roughly 20,000 people in summer. Ocean County and the Borough of Ship Bottom set their own property tax rates and assessment practices under New Jersey law, and confirming exactly how those rules apply to a specific parcel is a job for the borough's own finance office and Ocean County government directly, not something this page will estimate.
No Confirmed Current Price or Tax Rate, and None Invented Here
This page will not state a current median home price, price-per-square-foot figure, active listing count, or current property tax rate for Ship Bottom, because none was confirmed during this research pass. It is fair to say, in general terms and without a fabricated specific number, that Long Beach Island real estate is a high-value, high-demand vacation-home market, but a general reputation is not a substitute for a current comparable-sale figure or a current tax bill on a specific address.
Ship Bottom operates under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government, with a weak-mayor/strong-council structure. Registered Republicans made up 50.3% of the electorate as of March 2011, a dated figure that should not be treated as a current political snapshot. None of that sets a purchase price or tax rate, but it is worth knowing the structure of who currently sets local policy. Get current pricing, comparable-sale data, and the current Ocean County and Ship Bottom property tax rate directly from a local real estate agent, Ocean County records, and the borough's own tax office before budgeting a purchase.
Hurricane Sandy: The Hardest-Hit Municipality on Long Beach Island
Per New Jersey Department of Community Affairs data, compiled by NJ Spotlight and cross-referenced with U.S. Census figures, Ship Bottom was the hardest-hit municipality on all of Long Beach Island during Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, with 46% of its housing stock damaged. Of 829 total homes damaged, 752 sustained minor damage, 38 sustained major damage (losses of $8,000 to $28,800), and 39 sustained severe damage (losses exceeding $28,800). Just over 40% of rental units were damaged, 110 total rental units affected, 44 of them with major damage, and 157 businesses were impacted by the storm.
For comparison, other Long Beach Island municipalities saw far less housing damage in the same storm: Surf City 27%, Beach Haven 10%, Long Beach Township 9%, Harvey Cedars 5%, and Barnegat Light less than 1%. This page will not speculate about the specific engineering reason Ship Bottom was hit harder than its neighbors, beyond noting its low elevation and bayside/oceanside exposure at the narrow northern end of the island; no dune, levee, or elevation explanation beyond that general framing is confirmed. What is confirmed is that this is a real, documented, comparative data point, not a generic hurricane-risk disclaimer, and it belongs in the same conversation as any home price or insurance quote a buyer collects here.
A Flood Zone Covering the Entire Borough: CRS Discount and the 26% Framing
Ship Bottom participates in FEMA's Community Rating System (CRS) as part of the National Flood Insurance Program, and CRS participation earns residents a 15% reduction in flood insurance premiums. That discount exists because the entire municipality sits within the 100-year floodplain and is designated a Special Flood Hazard Area by FEMA; there is no part of the borough outside that designation. Properties in a Special Flood Hazard Area face a 26% chance of experiencing flood damage over the life of a 30-year mortgage, per FEMA's own standard risk framing, a general Special Flood Hazard Area statistic cited in Ship Bottom's own materials rather than a Ship-Bottom-specific probability study.
FEMA has produced Base Flood Elevation maps for the borough, available online and at the Construction Office, along with additional maps depicting future coastal hazards and historical flooding events. This page does not state a current flood-insurance premium, a current Base Flood Elevation for any specific parcel, or a current bulkhead or elevation-retrofit cost, because none was confirmed this research pass and those figures vary parcel by parcel. Get a current flood-zone determination for a specific address from FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, and get a current premium quote from a licensed insurance agent familiar with Long Beach Island property, before making an offer.
1,098 Year-Round Residents, About 20,000 in Summer: A Seasonal Cost-of-Services Factor
Ship Bottom's 2020 census population of 1,098 year-round residents swells to approximately 20,000 in summer, a roughly eighteen-to-one seasonal swing across a borough of well under one square mile. That kind of swing is a real cost-of-services factor worth understanding before budgeting a purchase, separate from whatever a home's sale price or tax bill turns out to be: a small permanent tax base carries year-round infrastructure, road maintenance, and emergency-service capacity sized for a population that multiplies many times over for a few months each year, and a full-time resident's experience of the borough's roads, parking, and public safety response can differ meaningfully between February and August.
Younger students attend the Long Beach Island Consolidated School District (pre-K through 6th grade), and older students attend Southern Regional School District (7th through 12th grade); combined district enrollment for the 2020-21 school year was 215 students, consistent with a small, largely seasonal year-round population. Median household income was reported at $60,673 in the 2006-2010 American Community Survey estimate, a dated figure that should not be presented as a current one. This page does not state a current municipal budget figure, a current per-capita service cost, or a current school tax levy, because none was confirmed this research pass.
Adding It Up: What Is Real, and What We Will Not Invent
What is confirmed and real here: Ship Bottom is a 0.99-square-mile borough on Long Beach Island in Ocean County, with a 2020 census population of 1,098 year-round residents (down 5.0% from 2010) that swells to approximately 20,000 in summer; it was the hardest-hit municipality on all of Long Beach Island during Hurricane Sandy, with 46% of its housing stock damaged (829 homes total: 752 minor, 38 major at $8,000-$28,800, 39 severe over $28,800) and 157 businesses affected; the entire borough sits within a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, carries a 15% Community Rating System flood-insurance discount, and faces the standard FEMA framing of a 26% chance of flood damage over a 30-year mortgage; and it operates under New Jersey's Borough form of government. This is also this site's fifteenth New Jersey market and its first on Long Beach Island, and New Jersey's own sales-tax and property-tax structure applies here, not any framing carried over from a no-sales-tax state.
What we could not find, and will not fill in with an invented figure: a current median home price, price-per-square-foot figure, active listing count, current Ship Bottom or Ocean County property tax rate, current New Jersey state sales-tax rate, current flood-insurance premium, current Base Flood Elevation for any specific parcel, or current municipal budget or school tax figures. Get current numbers directly from a local real estate agent who works Long Beach Island specifically, current tax and assessment information from Ocean County records and the Ship Bottom tax office, a current flood-zone determination from FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, and a current insurance quote from a licensed agent before budgeting a purchase. 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 drawn from research on Ship Bottom, New Jersey, including its location at the northern gateway to Long Beach Island in Ocean County, reached via Route 72 and the Manahawkin Bay Bridge; a total area of 0.99 square miles (0.71 square miles land, 0.28 square miles water); 2020 census population of 1,098 (down 5.0% from 2010), median household income of $60,673 per the 2006-2010 American Community Survey estimate, and a summer population of approximately 20,000; Hurricane Sandy (October 2012) damage data per New Jersey Department of Community Affairs figures compiled by NJ Spotlight and cross-referenced with U.S. Census figures, showing Ship Bottom as the hardest-hit municipality on Long Beach Island at 46% of housing stock damaged (829 homes: 752 minor, 38 major at $8,000-$28,800, 39 severe over $28,800; 110 of 40%-plus damaged rental units, 44 major; 157 businesses affected), compared with Surf City 27%, Beach Haven 10%, Long Beach Township 9%, Harvey Cedars 5%, and Barnegat Light under 1%; FEMA Community Rating System participation earning a 15% flood-insurance premium discount, entire-borough Special Flood Hazard Area designation, and the standard FEMA framing of a 26% chance of flood damage over a 30-year mortgage; Base Flood Elevation maps available through the borough's Construction Office; Ship Bottom's Borough form of government with a weak-mayor/strong-council structure and a March 2011 voter-registration figure of 50.3% Republican (dated, not current); and the Long Beach Island Consolidated School District (pre-K-6) and Southern Regional School District (7-12), with combined 2020-21 enrollment of 215 students. Ship Bottom is this site's fifteenth New Jersey market, following Cape May, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, North Wildwood, Stone Harbor, Avalon, Sea Isle City, Ocean City, Strathmere, Longport, Margate City, Ventnor City, Atlantic City, and Brigantine, and New Jersey's sales-tax and property-tax structure is treated as genuinely different from no-sales-tax states rather than assumed to carry over. A current median home price, active listing count, specific rental rates, current Ship Bottom or Ocean County property tax rate, current New Jersey state sales-tax rate, current flood-insurance premium, and current municipal budget or school tax figures were not independently confirmed this research pass and are disclosed as gaps rather than invented. Prices, tax rates, and insurance requirements change; confirm current numbers with a local real estate agent, Ocean County government, the Borough of Ship Bottom, FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, and a licensed insurance agent before making any purchase decision. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or financial advice.