Camden / Cape May
Cape May has 2,767 residents (give or take 15) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US3410270, checked 2026-10-19), about 1,119 people per square mile.
Cape May is about 70 miles from the Census center point for Camden in a straight line and covers 2.473 square miles of land (Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and land area, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/, checked 2026-10-19).
Median household income in Cape May is $62,576 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US3410270, checked 2026-10-19); many state and utility heat pump rebate programs set higher incentive tiers for income-qualifying households, so the household income on the application, not the town median, decides which level applies.
48% of Cape May homes are single-family detached, 10% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 9% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US3410270, checked 2026-10-19).
35% of Cape May homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US3410270, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 48% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Of the 1,438 occupied homes in Cape May, 55% heat with natural gas, 2% with heating oil, 41% with electricity and 0% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US3410270, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 55% of Cape May against electricity at 41%, so most quotes here are a partial-home system that carries the shoulder seasons and the summer while the gas furnace handles the coldest nights, or a whole-home system when the house is ready for it.
Cape May has about the Cape May County oil share of 3% and 21 points more electric heat than the county's 20% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US34009, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Cape May on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Cape May has 3,819 housing units, 27% built before 1940 and 69% before 1980, with 9% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US3410270, checked 2026-10-19).
Cape May has 14 points more pre-1940 homes than Cape May County as a whole (13%) and 16 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 25% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US34009, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Cape May home was built in 1973 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US3410270, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.5 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US3410270, checked 2026-10-19).
69% of Cape May homes were built before 1980 and only 9% in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US3410270, checked 2026-10-19), so most of the stock predates modern insulation codes; the installer's heat-loss calculation, not a square-footage rule, decides the tonnage.
Heating design temperature: 11F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Cape May County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 81 to 82 of 141 (Revised 11/11/2020), https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/Design%20Temperature%20Limit%20Reference%20Guide%20(2019%20Ed)%20-%20ENERGY%20STAR%20Single-Family%20New%20Homes_Rev11.pdf, fetched 2026-10-19, 99%.
That 11F figure is the Cape May County cold-day number a Cape May heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 11F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 55% of Cape May on gas and 41% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Cape May home has 5.5 rooms and was built around 1973, and the count of heads and the tonnage follow the rooms and the insulation, not the square footage.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Cape May. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Cape May yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.