Lavallette is a small borough on the Barnegat Peninsula, a narrow barrier island separating Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean in Ocean County, New Jersey. It sits between Bay Head to the north and the larger, busier resort town of Seaside Heights to the south. At the 2020 census, Lavallette reported 1,787 year-round residents, a figure that rises dramatically each summer as seasonal homeowners and renters arrive. The borough was founded in 1887 and has been shaped from the start by its identity as a summer resort. Its greatest natural asset is its wide, clean ocean beach, and more than a century of careful planning has kept the community low-rise and family-oriented, distinct from the boardwalk-amusement character of some neighboring towns. The borough covers roughly 1.2 square miles, with oceanfront homes on the east side and bayfront properties along the west, where Barnegat Bay provides calmer water for boating, fishing, and crabbing. Lavallette's housing is largely oriented to seasonal and second-home use, with a mix of traditional cottages, expanded beach houses, and newer coastal construction, much of it with decks and outdoor space oriented toward the water. A smaller number of residents live here year-round. The community has its own elementary school, and commercial life centers on a modest downtown corridor and the beach, with additional shopping and dining available in surrounding shore towns and on the mainland. Lavallette appeals to buyers and seasonal visitors seeking a quieter, more polished shore experience than the region's livelier boardwalk towns, with direct access to both the ocean and the bay. Its location on the northern Barnegat Peninsula also places it near Island Beach State Park, one of the longest stretches of undeveloped barrier-island shoreline in the state.