During the summer, the borough attracts a crowd largely under the age of 21, mainly highschoolers and young adults, drawn to a community with boardwalk entertainment and one of the few shore communities with sizable numbers of apartments, attracting as many as 65,000 people who are often out until early morning visiting bars and restaurants.

[24] As a resort community, the beach, an amusement-oriented boardwalk, and numerous clubs and bars, make it a popular destination.

"[25] The beach season runs from March to October, with the peak months being July and August, when the summer population explodes to as many as 30,000 to 65,000.

[22][26] Route 37 in Toms River is routinely gridlocked on Friday afternoons in the summer months as vacationers travel to the barrier islands.

Budget issues stalled the project in 1916, and the amusement ride and building was subsequently sold to Frank Freeman.

The combination of the completion of the Toms River Bridge on October 23, 1914,[28] and the DuPont Avenue carousel and boardwalk are what likely led to the 159% population growth shown between the 1920 and 1930 censuses in Seaside Heights.

[29] On June 9, 1955, a malfunctioning neon sign component caused a fire at a shop on the corner of Ocean Terrace and DuPont Avenue.

The fire was stopped at Stockton Avenue due in part to the fact that the boardwalk and pier ended there.

[30] Beginning on October 29, 2012, substantial portions of the boardwalk were damaged and much of the borough was flooded as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

[31] With a curfew set at 4:00 pm to prevent looting, a New Year's Eve party was held at the Beachcomber for hundreds of area residents at which the arrival of 2013 was celebrated at 3:00 in the afternoon.

It was taken apart by a wrecker from Weeks Marine on May 14, 2013, just a short time after Prince Harry's visit to the site the same day with Governor Chris Christie.

Repairs to the boardwalk were completed on June 21, 2013, with New Jersey's First Lady, Mary Pat Christie, hammering the nail into the final board of the project.

[34] The fire is believed to have started under the boardwalk, below the Kohr's Custard stand at the southern end of the pier.

The wind pushed it northward, and fire crews were able to make a stand at Lincoln Avenue by tearing up the newly replaced boardwalk which had been destroyed less than a year before by Hurricane Sandy.

Each of the two piers are part of a boardwalk that stretches for 2 miles (3.2 km) and offers many family-friendly attractions ranging from arcades, to games of chance, to beaches, and to the wide variety of foods and desserts, all within walking distance.

[49][50] As of 2022[update], the mayor of Seaside Heights is Republican Anthony E. "Tony" Vaz, whose term of office ends December 31, 2023.

The borough council appointed councilmember Tony Vaz to fill the term ending in December 2015.

[64][65][66] For the 119th United States Congress, New Jersey's 4th congressional district is represented by Chris Smith (R, Manchester Township).

[76][77][78] Constitutional officers elected on a countywide basis are: Clerk Scott M. Colabella (R, 2025, Barnegat Light),[79][80] Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy (R, 2025; Toms River)[81][82] and Surrogate Jeffrey Moran (R, 2028, Beachwood).

[104] The district's Early Childhood Center addition was dedicated in 2007 in the name of longtime Board of Education Member Harry M. Smith III.

Route 37 crosses the Thomas A. Mathis and J. Stanley Tunney Bridges and heads west through Toms River to intersect the Garden State Parkway at exit 82.

The plant hardiness zone at Seaside Heights Beach is 7a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 3.7 °F (−15.7 °C).

[127] The show returned to Seaside Heights for its fifth season, which wrapped filming on August 2, 2011, and began airing in January 2012.

[128] Prior to Jersey Shore, the town was also the setting of MTV's True Life: I Have A Summer Share, which was filmed in Seaside Heights, as was MTV's True Life: I'm a Jersey Shore Girl from 2004, which was one of the network's first stories of guidettes looking for the perfect guido.

[47][130] In 1985, New Jersey rock band Bon Jovi filmed most of their music video for the song "In and Out of Love" in Seaside Heights, mainly on the boardwalk.

[132] The ABC soap opera One Life to Live filmed a portion of its 2008 storyline in Seaside Heights, mainly on the beach and boardwalk.

[133] The song 'Mera Dil Tera Deewana' from the 1999 Hindi film Aa Ab Laut Chalen directed by Rishi Kapoor and starring Akshaye Khanna and Aishwarya Rai was shot at Seaside Heights.