Brick Township is a township situated on the Jersey Shore within Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city retained its position as the state's 13th-most-populous municipality,Table1. New Jersey Counties and Most Populous Cities and Townships: 2020 and 2010 Censuses , New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Accessed December 1, 2022. with a population of 73,620, a decrease of 1,452 (−1.9%) from the 2010 census count of 75,072, which in turn reflected a decline of 1,047 residents (−1.4%) from its population of 76,119 at the 2000 census, when it was the state's 12th most-populous municipality.Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010 , New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023.
A majority of Brick Township is located on the mainland. There are Brick Ocean Beaches I, II, and III situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.Cullinane, Bob. "Brick Beaches", Asbury Park Press, July 28, 2002. Accessed December 14, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "There are three public access beaches in Brick (Ocean Beach I, Ocean Beach II, Ocean Beach III) that, in total, cover about a half-mile. These should not be confused with Ocean Beach, a section of Dover Township, just south of Brick's Ocean Beaches. Got it?" The mainland and beach area of the town are not geographically adjacent. Brick Township was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 15, 1850, from portions of both Dover Township (now Toms River Township) and Howell Township. The township was named after Joseph Brick, the owner of Bergen Iron Works located on the Metedeconk River.Donatiello, Gene. "Who is Joseph Woolston Brick?" , Brick Township Historical Society. Accessed February 19, 2013. "The new township was named after its most prominent citizen Joseph Woolston Brick. Joseph W. Brick was the industrious and successful owner of Bergen Iron Works."Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names , New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed August 27, 2015. Portions of the township were taken to form Point Pleasant Beach (May 18, 1886), Bay Head (June 15, 1886), Lakewood Township (March 23, 1892), Mantoloking (April 10, 1911) and Point Pleasant (April 21, 1920).Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. Accessed May 1, 2026. In 1963, voters rejected a referendum that would have changed the township's name to "Laurelton".Wright, George Cable. "Jersey Aroused By Referendums; Some Ballots on Tuesday to List Nine Questions" , The New York Times, November 3, 1963. Accessed July 5, 2012. "Brick Township will become Laurelton, as it was known in 1904, if a local referendum is adopted. The change to Brick was made just before the Civil War when bricklayers formed an influential segment of the local population."
After hovering for years in the top five, in 2006, the township earned the title of "America's Safest City", out of 371 cities included nationwide in the 13th annual Morgan Quitno survey.13th Annual Safest (and Most Dangerous) Cities: Top and Bottom 25 Cities Overall , accessed October 30, 2006. Since the year 2000, Brick Township has been the safest "city" (population over 75,000) in New Jersey. In 2003 and 2004, Brick Township was ranked as the second safest city in the United States, after Newton, Massachusetts.11th Annual Safest (and Most Dangerous) Cities: Top and Bottom 25 Cities Overall , accessed June 4, 2006. In 2005, Brick Township had dropped down to the fifth safest "city" (population over 75,000) in the United States, before it rebounded to the top in 2006.12th Annual Safest (and Most Dangerous) Cities: Top and Bottom 25 Cities Overall , accessed June 4, 2006.
History The area that would become Brick Township began as a rural community. In 1833, Joseph W. Brick established the Bergen Iron Works. Brick died in 1847, shortly before the township’s creation.
In 1850, the New Jersey State Legislature created Ocean County from portions of Monmouth and Burlington counties. At the same time, Brick Township was formed from parts of Howell and Dover townships. The new township was named for Joseph W. Brick, the owner of Bergen Iron Works and one of the area’s most prominent citizens at the time of its incorporation.
The Havens Homestead Museum preserves the history of the Havens family, who originally settled in the Laurelton/Burrsville section of Brick. The museum is housed in the original Havens family home, located on a small plot of farmland. It includes a gift shop and offers daily tours of the property.Henry Harry "Clay" Havens , Brick Township Historical Society. Accessed January 22, 2013.
In August of 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant visited Brick.
In 1954, the Garden State Parkway opened, connecting Brick Township to North Jersey. The improved access contributed to a housing boom from the 1950s through the 1980s, during which many of Brick’s modern neighborhoods were developed, including Lake Riviera, Laurelton, and Baywood.
Brick Township High School opened in 1958.
Brick Township has also been in the news for a claimed autism epidemic, in which 40 children out of over 6,000 surveyed were found to be autistic, though Brick's autism rate is statistically near the national average. Many of the children found to be autistic were born in Northern New Jersey and other parts of the country. There is no evidence that the levels of autism are linked to any specific environmental factor in Brick.Bertrand, et al. "Prevalence of Autism in a United States Population: The Brick Township, New Jersey, Investigation" . Pediatrics Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, November 5, 2001. Accessed January 20, 2013. "Conclusions: The prevalence of autism in Brick Township seems to be higher than that in other studies, particularly studies conducted in the United States, but within the range of a few recent studies in smaller populations that used more thorough case-finding methods." Parents of children diagnosed with autism have moved to the township in order to make use of the special education programs offered by the school district.Nee, Daniel. "As Federal Report on Autism is Released, Brick School Officials Wish Funding Promises Were Kept" , January 24, 2011. Accessed January 20, 2013. "Still, Hrycenko and Magovern agreed that the noted program in Brick is necessary, despite a lack of assistance from outside sources. 'There's no doubt about it,' said Magovern. 'Especially in the autistic population, a lot of people move here because we provide those services in the district.'"
Brick has been affected by the heroin epidemic. According to the state's statistics, in 2012 Brick was ranked sixth in the state with 550 reported incidents of heroin or opiate abuse, behind Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Atlantic City and Camden. In 2017, Brick improved to 438 reported heroin abuse cases, ranked ninth in the state.Davis, Tom. "30 NJ Towns With The Most Heroin Abuse In New 2018 Report" , Point Pleasant Patch, October 1, 2018. Accessed January 3, 2019.
On July 11, 2004, Brick Memorial High School student Brittney Gregory went missing, and her disappearance received national media attention. Her body was later found in a shallow grave after a woman led police to the area. Jack Fuller Jr., a drug addict and acquaintance of Gregory’s father, admitted to killing her. Fuller stated that he had been giving Gregory a ride to her boyfriend’s house when he began smoking crack cocaine in the car. According to Fuller, Gregory became upset, and he punched her several times. After she died, he buried her body.Macintosh, Jeane. "Brittney’S Body Found – Tragic Search Ends 2 Miles From Jersey Fiend’S Lair" , New York Post, July 28, 2004. Accessed March 20, 2023. "The body of tragic teen Brittney Gregory was found yesterday in a sandy, shallow grave that apparently had been hastily dug less than two miles from her accused killer's eerie wooded haunts in New Jersey. The makeshift grave, discovered more than two weeks after the Brick teen's disappearance, was only 2 feet deep but clearly was dug with a shovel, said Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas Kelaher."
During the December 2010 North American blizzard, Brick Township received of snow, the highest accumulation recorded in the state.Nierenberg, Larry. "Winter Storms" , Storm Spotter's Newsletter, National Weather Service, Mount Holly, New Jersey, Volume 3, Issue 4, Spring 2011, pp. 2-3. Accessed February 19, 2013. "A strong Nor'easter system impacted the Middle Atlantic region starting early Sunday morning December 26th and ending on Monday December 27th.... Numerous locations along the New Jersey coast received 20 inch or higher amounts, with the greatest snowfall measurement of 30 inches taken in Brick Township in New Jersey."O'Reilly, David; Katz, Matt; and Simon, Darran. "Not a blizzard, but snowfall was one for the books" , The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 28, 2010. Accessed February 6, 2013. "Coming in from the south on winds that gusted as high as 62 m.p.h. at Wilmington's airport, the storm left accumulations of just two to six inches to the north of the city, but dropped 26 inches on parts of Cape May County, piled 30 inches on Brick Township, Ocean County, and paralyzed New York City and much of New England." In October 2012, parts of Brick were devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Barrier island and other waterfront properties were particularly hard hit. Homes and such buildings as the Shore Acres Yacht Club sustained major damage; some buildings had to be demolished.
During the February 2026 North American blizzard, Brick Township received of snow, multiple areas of Brick was without power for up to 15 hours, there was a state-wide travel ban from February 23-24, only emergency vehicles could travel on roadways.
Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 32.22 square miles (83.44 km2), including 25.61 square miles (66.34 km2) of land and 6.61 square miles (17.11 km2) of water (20.50%).
Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Adamston, Arrowhead Village, Breton Woods, Burrsville, Cedar Bridge, CedarCroft, Cedarwood Park, Cherry Quay, Greenbriar, Havens Cove, Havens Point, Herbertsville, Herring Island, Lanes Mills, Laurelton, Mandalay Park, Metedeconk, Metedeconk Neck, Osbornville, Playground Beach, Riviera Beach, Seaweed Point, Shore Acres, Sloop Point, Swan Point, Wardell's Neck, West Mantoloking and West Osbornville.Locality Search , State of New Jersey. Accessed May 21, 2015.
The communities of Herbertsville and Parkway Pines are located close to exit 91 of the Garden State Parkway, near the Monmouth County border, and are geographically distant from the rest of the township. Bayberry Court and Maypink Lane are two streets that are not accessible from any other Brick roads, and are served by the United States Postal Service as ZIP Code 07731 with Howell Township.
The township borders Bay Head, Lakewood Township, Mantoloking, Point Pleasant and Toms River Township in Ocean County; and the Monmouth County municipalities of Brielle, Howell Township and Wall Township.Areas touching Brick Township , MapIt. Accessed March 16, 2020.Ocean County Map , Coalition for a Healthy NJ. Accessed March 16, 2020.New Jersey Municipal Boundaries , New Jersey Department of Transportation. Accessed November 15, 2019.
Demographics
2010 census