Housing in Waretown reflects its dual bay-and-pines character. Along the bayfront and on its network of lagoons, homes tend toward single-family waterfront and canal-side properties, many with docks or boat slips, as well as marinas serving the local boating community. Inland, the stock includes ranches, split-levels, and smaller subdivisions on wooded lots characteristic of the Pine Barrens edge. The community offers a more low-key, less commercialized alternative to the barrier-island shore towns, with a mix of year-round and seasonal residences.

Waretown is organized around its bayfront and lagoon neighborhoods, where streets run toward the water and boating is a daily part of life. The shoreline areas include marinas, a commercial stretch along Route 9, and clusters of waterfront homes. Farther inland, residential streets and small subdivisions sit within the Pine Barrens landscape, with larger wooded parcels in places. The nearby Wells Mills County Park marks the community's western edge, reinforcing the sense of open space that surrounds the developed core.

Life in Waretown centers on the water and the outdoors. Boating, fishing, crabbing, and kayaking on Barnegat Bay are everyday pursuits, and the community's marinas support a strong recreational boating culture. The Little Red Schoolhouse Museum, run by the Waretown Historical Society, preserves the area's shipbuilding and maritime past. Residents also draw on nearby Manahawkin and Barnegat for shopping and dining, while the relative quiet of the bayfront and the Pine Barrens gives Waretown a calm, unhurried pace compared with the busier barrier-island towns.

Students in Waretown are served by the Ocean Township School District, which operates Waretown Elementary School and the Frederic A. Priff School for the younger and middle grades. The district's small scale keeps students close to home through the elementary years. Graduates of the district attend Southern Regional High School, part of the Southern Regional School District in nearby Manahawkin, which serves much of southern Ocean County and Long Beach Island.

Waretown is accessible via U.S. Route 9, which runs north–south through the community and links it to Barnegat, Manahawkin, and the rest of the Ocean County shore. The Garden State Parkway is a short drive inland, providing routes toward Toms River and the northern shore as well as Atlantic City to the south. The Route 72 causeway, a few miles south, carries traffic across the bay to Long Beach Island.

Waretown is bordered by Wells Mills County Park, the largest park in the Ocean County system, whose Pine Barrens trails, lake, and nature center offer hiking, birding, and paddling. Barnegat Bay provides boating, fishing, crabbing, and clamming, with Barnegat Inlet and the Atlantic Ocean accessible by boat. Long Beach Island's beaches are a short drive away, and the community's historical society hosts programs that celebrate its maritime heritage.