Overview
Located in Central New Jersey, Middletown Township is a popular seaside destination for retirees. The township boasts multiple parks and beaches for outdoor recreation, as well as nearby shopping and dining. Besides this, its proximity to the New York metro area makes it an attractive destination for active adults.
Climate & Geography
Middletown Township has a humid subtropical climate. Summers are hot with periods of sticky spells, and winters are cold. The Atlantic Ocean helps moderate temperatures, creating cooling sea breezes in the summer and warmer winter temperatures. Precipitation is frequent all year round, with higher than average rain and average snow.
The Sandy Hook Bay creates Middletown’s northern border, while the Navesink River and Swimming River Reservoir create the eastern and southern boundaries. Much of the area is flat and low-lying with some hills toward the north.
Recreation, Culture, & Entertainment
Middletown Township has an abundance of outdoor recreation. The Sandy Hook Peninsula has ocean swimming, birding, boating, hiking, and camping opportunities throughout the land. Tatum Park and Hartshorne Woods Park are both heavily forested nature retreats with miles of hiking trails. Bayshore Waterfront Park is a popular beach area along the Sandy Hook Bay featuring an activity center in a historic cabin.
For cultural events and theater, residents head to the Middletown Arts Center. Nearby Red Bank, south of the township on the other side of the Navesink River, has a vibrant downtown area with over 300 shops, 20 art galleries, and 80 restaurants in Victorian-style architecture. The Shoppes at Middletown is a planned development opening in 2021 that will create a new town center featuring a movie theater, large-scale shops, and a pedestrian walkway.
Other local amenities include two country clubs with golf courses and a county history museum. Residents seeking even more amenities can travel an hour to Newark or New York.
Cost of Living & Taxes
The cost of living in Middletown is higher than the national average because of high housing costs. Transportation is also high, utilities and groceries match the national average, and health care is below average.
New Jersey does not tax Social Security. It does tax all other forms of retirement income, but the state provides a large deduction for retirees. Property taxes are the highest in the country, but a homestead exemption is available for those over the age of 65. Sales taxes are average.
Health Care
The New York metro area ranks in the top 65 communities across the country according to Gallup’s Well-Being Index.
Though there are no hospitals in Middletown Township, there are several U.S. News nationally ranked hospitals within 20 miles. These include Staten Island University Hospital in Staten Island, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and St. Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick.
Local high performing hospitals include Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank and Monmouth Medical Center-Long Branch Campus in Long Branch.