Belford is a very small coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 1,648 people and two associated neighborhoods, Belford is the 448th largest community in New Jersey.

Housing costs in Belford are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in New Jersey.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 17.40% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Because of many things, Belford is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Belford really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Belford perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.

Belford is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

In Belford, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 36.06 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit.

Despite being a small town, Belford has a lot of people using the bus to get to and from work every day. Most of these people on the bus are using it to get to good jobs in other cities.

The education level of Belford citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 38.75% of adults in Belford have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Belford in 2022 was $56,264, which is middle income relative to New Jersey, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $225,056 for a family of four.

Belford is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Belford home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Belford residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Belford include Irish, German, Italian, Polish, and English.

The most common language spoken in Belford is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.