[20] Featuring Jersey Shore Medical Center, the historic community of Ocean Grove, along with office parks and cultural amenities, Neptune Township has been a longtime regional commercial and cultural hub of the Jersey Shore.

[21][22][23][24] The township was named for Neptune, the Roman water deity, and its location on the Atlantic Ocean.

[29][30] Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Bradley Park, the Gables, Green Grove, Hamilton, Hamilton Mills, Mid-Town, Summerfield, Seaview Island, The Observatory, West Grove, West Neptune and Whitesville.

[31][32] Neptune Township stretches from the Atlantic Ocean west to the Garden State Parkway (exit 100).

Neptune Township is a diverse community, both in terms of population and landscape, extending from the seaside community of Ocean Grove, a national historic site, to Mid-town which is undergoing a municipal-led revitalization, to the riverside residential community of Shark River Hills, to the open spaces of Shark River Park and the commercial corridor on Route 66 in the west.

Seven municipalities border the lake, accounting for 27 miles (43 km) of shoreline, also including Allenhurst, Asbury Park, Deal, Interlaken, Loch Arbour and Ocean Township.

[3][48][49][50][51] In October 2024, after the township committee didn't make a choice from the three candidates nominated, the township's Democratic Party committee chose past Neptune Board of Education President Jason A. Jones to fill the seat expiring in December 2025 that became vacant following the resignation of Keith Cafferty the previous month.

[52] In April 2021, the Township Committee selected Tassie York to fill the seat expiring in December 2022 that had been held by Carol J. Rizzo until she resigned from office to move out of the county.

[54] In January 2016, the Township Council selected Carol J. Rizzo from three candidates nominated by the Democratic municipal committee to fill the seat expiring in December 2016 which was vacated by Eric Houghtaling when he took office in the New Jersey General Assembly earlier that month.

[57][58][59] For the 119th United States Congress, New Jersey's 6th congressional district is represented by Frank Pallone (D, Long Branch).

[62] For the 2024-2025 session, the 11th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the New Jersey Senate by Vin Gopal (D, Long Branch) and in the General Assembly by Margie Donlon (D, Ocean Township) and Luanne Peterpaul (D, Long Branch).

[100][101][102] Ocean Grove is an unincorporated community and census-designated place[105] (CDP) that is part of Neptune Township, in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

[8] Founded in 1869 by a group of Methodist clergymen, led by William B. Osborn and Ellwood H. Stokes, this historic community is located on the Atlantic Ocean's Jersey Shore, between Asbury Park to the north and Bradley Beach to the south.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Ocean Grove is noted for its abundant examples of Victorian architecture and the Great Auditorium, acclaimed as "the state's most wondrous wooden structure, soaring and sweeping, alive with the sound of music".

[31] The Garden State Parkway is west of the township, with the best access provided via exits 100 and 102.

The New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95) entrance for Exit 8 is about 25 miles west on Route 33 in East Windsor, Mercer County.

[115] JSUMC is the shore region's only university-level academic medical center and is a major partner of the Hackensack Meridian Healthcare network (it is the system's second largest hospital).

[117] JSUMC is designated as a level II trauma center[118][119] with a rooftop helipad handling medevac patients.

[124] The plant hardiness zone is 7a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 3.6 °F (−15.8 °C).