Eatontown is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, set just inland from the Jersey Shore, with Red Bank to the north and the Long Branch and Asbury Park beaches a short drive to the east and south. The 2020 census counted 13,575 residents. The borough grew around a crossroads of major highways — Routes 35, 36, and 18 and the Garden State Parkway — which made it a commercial hub for the surrounding shore communities. Eatontown is most closely identified with Fort Monmouth, the U.S. Army's former communications and electronics research installation. After the base closed in 2011, the roughly 1,127-acre property entered a long-term reuse program managed by the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority, with portions in Eatontown, Tinton Falls, and Oceanport. The campus has become a center for media and technology employment, anchored by a major film and television production studio, giving the borough an unusual blend of suburban residential life and modern industry. Retail anchors the local economy, led by the Monmouth Mall complex at the junction of Routes 35 and 36. The borough's neighborhoods are a mix of post-war single-family homes, garden apartments, and newer townhome communities, appealing to commuters and families drawn to the area's central Monmouth County location. Eatontown Public Schools operate the borough's elementary and middle grades, including the Margaret L. Vetter School, while high school students attend Monmouth Regional High School in neighboring Tinton Falls. Residents enjoy quick access to the Navesink River towns, the beaches of the northern Jersey Shore, and commuter rail into New York via nearby NJ Transit stations.