Forked River is a somewhat small coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 5,274 people and five associated neighborhoods, Forked River is the 306th largest community in New Jersey.

Housing costs in Forked River 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.

Also of interest is that Forked River has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

A relatively large number of people in Forked River telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 17.75% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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.

The town is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Forked River has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Forked River a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.

Forked River 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.

Being a small town, Forked River does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

The overall education level of Forked River is somewhat higher than in the average US city of 21.84%: 25.57% of adults 25 and older in the town have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Forked River in 2022 was $47,532, which is lower middle income relative to New Jersey, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $190,128 for a family of four. However, Forked River contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Forked River is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Forked River home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Forked River residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Forked River also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 16.09% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Forked River include Italian, Irish, German, Polish, and Brazilian.

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