Manalapan Township is a township in western Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is centrally located within the Raritan Valley region and is a part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 40,905, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 2,033 (+5.2%) from the 2010 census count of 38,872, which in turn reflected an increase of 5,449 (+16.3%) from the 33,423 counted in the 2000 census.

Monmouth County is a county, located in the central section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Comprising much of the northern half of the Jersey Shore, it is bordered to its west by Mercer and Middlesex Counties, to its south by Ocean County, to its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north by the Raritan Bay. Monmouth County's geographic area comprises 30% water. The county is considered part of the Central Jersey region of the state, though it was not among the four counties explicitly listed as included in Central Jersey as part of legislation signed into law in 2023.