Ocean County, New Jersey

Ocean County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the southernmost county in the New York metropolitan area. The county borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east and in terms of total area is the state's largest county. Its county seat is Toms River. The county is part of the Jersey Shore and 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.

Since 2020, Ocean County has been the fastest-growing county in New Jersey, with a population of 637,229 recorded at the 2020 United States census, its highest decennial count ever and ranking the county as the state's sixth-most populous county, with an increase of 60,662 (+10.5%) from the 576,567 enumerated at the 2010 census, which in turn reflected an increase of 65,651 (+12.8%) from the 510,916 counted in the 2000 census. Since 2010, Ocean County's population has been growing faster than the United States as a whole. The United States Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program estimated a 2023 population of 659,197, an increase of 21,968 (+3.4%) from the 2020 decennial census. Ocean County’s most populous and fastest-growing place is Lakewood Township, with an estimated 139,866 residents as of 2023, while Jackson Township covers 100.62 sqmi, the largest total area of any municipality in the county.

Ocean County is located 50 mi east of Philadelphia, 70 mi south of New York City, and 25 mi north of Atlantic City, making it a prime vacation destination for residents of these cities during the summer. As with the entire Jersey Shore, summer traffic routinely clogs local roadways throughout the season. Over 31% of Ocean County's total area is water.

Ocean County is part of the New York metropolitan area. The county is also home to many tourist attractions frequented by Philadelphia metropolitan area residents, including the beachfront communities of Seaside Heights, Long Beach Island, and Point Pleasant Beach, and Six Flags Great Adventure, an amusement park in Jackson Township that is the home to the world's tallest and second-fastest roller coaster, Kingda Ka. Ocean County is a gateway to New Jersey's Pine Barrens, one of the largest protected land areas on the East Coast.

History
Prior to its creation, Ocean county was almost entirely within Shrewsbury township in Monmouth county, With the exception of Tuckerton, and Little Egg Harbor. Ocean County was established on February 15, 1850, from portions of Monmouth County, with the addition of Little Egg Harbor Township which was annexed from Burlington County on March 30, 1891. It derives its name from the Atlantic Ocean that it borders. The most populous municipality in the county is the rapidly growing Lakewood Township, with 135,158 residents in 2020, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 42,315 (+45.6%) from its 2010 census count of 92,843; while Jackson Township covers 100.62 sqmi, the largest total area of any municipality in Ocean County.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of the 2020 Census, the county had a total area of 914.84 sqmi, making it the largest county in New Jersey in terms of total area (ahead of Burlington County), of which 628.29 sqmi was land (68.7%) and 286.55 sqmi was water (31.3%).

Much of the county is flat and coastal, with an extensive shoreline and many beaches along the Jersey Shore, including Barnegat Light, Beach Haven, Harvey Cedars, Lavallette, Mantoloking, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park, Ship Bottom, and Surf City. The highest point is one of three unnamed hills (one in Jackson Township, the other two in Plumsted Township) that reach at least 230 ft in elevation. The lowest elevation in the county is at sea level along the county's lengthy Atlantic Ocean and Barnegat Bay coastlines.

Climate
Ocean County's area comprises 31.3% water. The coastal county along the Atlantic Ocean has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa and including the coast). In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Toms River have ranged from a low of 24 F in January to a high of 85 F in July, although a record low of -19 F was recorded in January 1982 and a record high of 105 F was recorded in July 1999. Average monthly temperatures in Tuckerton near the south end range from 33.2 F in January to 75.7 F in July.

The highest monthly average temperature for the county was 78.8 F in July 2020; the lowest was 17.2 F in February 1934.

Average monthly precipitation ranged from 3.30 in in February to 4.79 in in March. Areas closer to the coast typically experience more mild winters and cooler summers due to the Atlantic Ocean's influence.

The highest total monthly precipitation recorded for the county was 15.67 in in August 2011, the same month Hurricane Irene hit the New Jersey coast; the lowest was .25 in recorded in October 1963.

2020 census
The 2020 United States census counted 637,229 people and 237,729 households in the county. The population density was 1014.2 PD/sqmi. There were 295,648 housing units at an average density of 470.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup was 92.2% (587,525) White, 3.9% (24,852) Black or African American, 0.3% (1,912) Native American, 2.1% (13,382) Asian, 0.1% (637) Pacific Islander, and 1.5% (9,558) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.2% (64,997) of the population. The average household size was 2.62.

24.6% of the population were under the age of 18, 52.6% from 18 to 64, and 22.8% were 65 years of age or older. Female persons made up 51.3% of the total population.

2010 census
The 2010 United States census counted 576,567 people, 221,111 households, and 149,250 families in the county. The population density was 917 PD/sqmi. There were 278,052 housing units at an average density of 442.2 /sqmi. The racial makeup was 90.98% (524,577) White, 3.15% (18,164) Black or African American, 0.17% (966) Native American, 1.75% (10,081) Asian, 0.02% (129) Pacific Islander, 2.46% (14,165) from other races, and 1.47% (8,485) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.29% (47,783) of the population.

Of the 221,111 households, 26.7% had children under the age of 18; 53.9% were married couples living together; 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present and 32.5% were non-families. Of all households, 27.8% were made up of individuals and 16.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.16.

23.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 22.2% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 21% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.6 years. For every 100 females, the population had 92 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 88.3 males.

2000 census
As of the 2000 United States census there were 510,916 people, 200,402 households, and 137,876 families residing in the county. The population density was 803 PD/sqmi. There were 248,711 housing units at an average density of 151 /km2. The racial makeup of the county was 93.05% White, 2.99% Black or African American, 0.14% Native American, 1.28% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.24% from other races, and 1.29% from two or more races. 5.02% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Among those who listed their ancestry, 25.3% were of Italian, 23.6% Irish, 18.7% German, 8.8% Polish and 8.5% English ancestry according to Census 2000. There were 200,402 households, out of which 28.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.40% were married couples living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.20% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.30% under the age of 18, 6.60% from 18 to 24, 26.00% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 22.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.40 males. The median income for a household in the county was $46,443, and the median income for a family was $56,420. Males had a median income of $44,822 versus $30,717 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,054. About 4.8% of families and 7.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.0% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.

As of the 2000 Census, Mantoloking was the wealthiest community in the state of New Jersey with a per capita money income of $114,017 as of 1999.

Economy
The Bureau of Economic Analysis calculated that the county's gross domestic product was $23.8 billion in 2022, which ranked 12th of 21 in the state. This was a 4.1% increase from the prior year, the 5th largest percent change in the state. The 2022 GDP numbers reflected the second year in a row of positive growth for the county, after 2020 saw a -0.4% change from 2019.

Ocean County is home to the Ocean County Mall in Toms River, featuring a gross leasable area of 898000 sqft. The now-closed Sears site will be replaced with 100000 sqft of retail space.

County government
Ocean County is governed by a Board of County Commissioners comprised of five members who are elected on an at-large basis in partisan elections and serving staggered three-year terms of office, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year as part of the November general election. At an annual reorganization held in the beginning of January, the board chooses a Director and a deputy director from among its members. In 2016, freeholders were paid $30,000 and the freeholder director was paid an annual salary of $31,000. This remained unchanged in 2018

, Ocean County's Commissioners are (with terms for chair and vice-chair ending every December 31):

Pursuant to Article VII Section II of the New Jersey State Constitution, each county in New Jersey is required to have three elected administrative officials known as "constitutional officers." These officers are the County Clerk and County Surrogate (both elected for five-year terms of office) and the County Sheriff (elected for a three-year term). Constitutional officers elected on a countywide basis are: Constitutional officers elected on a countywide basis are:

No Democrat has won a countywide office since 1989. The Ocean County Prosecutor is Bradley D. Billhimer, who was nominated by Governor Phil Murphy. Billhimer was sworn in by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal on October 12, 2018. Ocean County constitutes Vicinage 14 of the New Jersey Superior Court and is seated at the Ocean County Courthouse Complex in Toms River; the Assignment Judge for Vicinage 14 is Marlene Lynch Ford. Ocean County operates the Ocean County Southern Service Center in Manahawkin. This center offers access to all of the Ocean County government services without the need for residents to travel to the county seat located about 20 mi to the north.

Federal representatives
The 2nd and 4th Congressional Districts cover the county.

State representatives
The 33 municipalities of Ocean County are covered by four legislative districts.

Politics
Ocean County is the most Republican county in New Jersey, a state that characteristically votes Democratic. In its history, it has failed to support a Republican for president only three times. As of 2024, all of its state legislators, County commissioners, and countywide constitutional officers are Republicans. The last Democratic presidential candidate to win Ocean County was Bill Clinton in 1996, who carried the county with a 46% plurality of the vote. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. As of October 1, 2021, there were a total of 458,230 registered voters in Ocean County, of whom 171,085 (37.3%) were registered as Republicans, 102,005 (22.3%) were registered as Democrats and 179,085 (39.1%) were registered as unaffiliated. There were 6,055 voters (1.3%) registered to other parties. Among the county's 2010 Census population, 63.2% were registered to vote, including 82.6% of those ages 18 and over.

In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 58.4% of the vote here (160,677 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 40.1% (110,189 votes) among the 276,544 ballots cast by the county's 380,712 registered voters, for a turnout of 72.6%. The Republican vote totals and overall turnout were significantly down in 2012 due to damage and displacement caused by Hurricane Sandy just days before the election. In 2016 and 2020, it was New Jersey's most Republican county, and in 2020, it was the only one to give Donald Trump more than 60% of the vote; in fact, Trump won all but one municipality in Ocean County in 2020 (Joe Biden won South Toms River).


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In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 65.6% of the vote here (124,238 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 28.4% (53,761 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 4.8% (9,068 votes) and other candidates with 1.2% (1,955 votes), among the 193,186 ballots cast by the county's 371,066 registered voters, yielding a 52.1% turnout. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 75.7% of the vote here (125,781 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 22.8% (37,930 votes), In the 2017 gubernatorial election, Republican Kim Guadagno received 98,135 (62.1%) of the vote, and Democrat Phil Murphy received 56,682 (35.8%) of the vote. In the 2021 gubernatorial election, Republican Jack Ciattarelli received 67.5% of the vote (145,756 ballots cast) to Democrat Phil Murphy's 31.8% (68,615 votes). Ocean County has been the most Republican in the last three gubernatorial elections.

Tertiary education
Ocean County College is the two-year community college for Ocean County, one of a network of 19 county colleges statewide. The school is in Toms River and was founded in 1964.

Georgian Court University in Lakewood Township is a private Roman Catholic Sisters of Mercy college, which opened in 1908 on the former winter estate of millionaire George Jay Gould I, son of railroad tycoon Jay Gould. Lakewood is also home to Beth Medrash Govoha, a Haredi yeshiva with 5,000 students, making it one of the largest yeshivas in the world and the largest outside the State of Israel.

Stockton University has a campus located in Manahawkin offering undergraduate and graduate colleges of the arts, sciences and professional studies of the New Jersey state system of higher education.

Primary and secondary schools
School districts in the county include:


 * K-12:


 * Barnegat Township School District
 * Brick Public Schools
 * Jackson School District
 * Lacey Township School District
 * Lakewood School District
 * Manchester Township School District
 * Plumsted Township School District
 * Point Pleasant Beach School District
 * Point Pleasant School District
 * Toms River Regional Schools


 * Secondary:
 * Central Regional School District
 * Ocean County Vocational Technical School
 * Pinelands Regional School District
 * Southern Regional School District


 * Elementary (K-6, except as noted):


 * Bay Head School District (K-8)
 * Beach Haven School District
 * Berkeley Township School District
 * Eagleswood Township School District
 * Island Heights School District
 * Lakehurst School District (K-8)
 * Lavallette School District (K-8)
 * Little Egg Harbor Township School District
 * Long Beach Island Consolidated School District
 * Ocean Gate School District
 * Ocean Township School District
 * Seaside Heights School District
 * Seaside Park School District (non-operating)
 * Stafford Township School District
 * Tuckerton School District

New Jersey's largest suburban school district, Toms River Regional Schools, is located in Ocean County. Toms River is also home to the county's only Roman Catholic high school, Monsignor Donovan High School, operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, which also has six elementary schools located in the county.

In addition to multiple public high schools, the county has an extensive vocational high school program, known as the Ocean County Vocational Technical School district. In addition to its campuses in Brick, Toms River, Waretown, and Jackson, it contains three magnet schools:
 * Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES)
 * OCVTS Performing Arts Academy – theater, dance, and vocal
 * OCVTS Academy of Law and Public Safety (ALPS)

Attractions
Ocean County has an extensive shoreline stretching along the Atlantic Ocean, including the Jersey Shore communities and oceanfront boardwalk resorts of Seaside Heights and Point Pleasant Beach.

Six Flags Great Adventure, America's largest Six Flags theme park, is home to the world's tallest and formerly fastest roller coaster, Kingda Ka. The park also contains Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, New Jersey's largest water park, and the 2200 acre Safari Off Road Adventure, the largest drive-thru animal safari outside of Africa.

Approximately 40 mi of barrier beaches form the Barnegat and Little Egg Harbor Bays, offering ample watersports. It also is home of the Tuckerton Seaport, a 40 acre maritime history village in Tuckerton. In addition to being the northeast gateway to New Jersey's Pine Barrens, Ocean County is also home to several state parks:
 * Barnegat Lighthouse State Park covers 32 acres surrounding Barnegat Lighthouse at the northern tip of Long Beach Island.
 * Island Beach State Park has 3000 acres of coastal dunes.
 * Double Trouble State Park includes 8000 acres of land in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
 * Brendan T. Byrne State Forest includes 37000 acres and was formerly known as Lebanon State Forest.
 * Forked River State Marina

ShoreTown Ballpark located in Lakewood, opened in 2001 with 6,588 reserved seats and is home of the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, the High-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.

National protected area

 * Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge covers 48000 acres of wetlands and coastal habitat in Atlantic and Ocean counties.

Media
The Asbury Park Press and The Press of Atlantic City are daily newspapers that cover Ocean County. Micromedia Publications publishes six weekly local newspapers in the county; their seventh covers Howell Township, New Jersey in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

92.7 WOBM provides news, traffic and weather updates. WOBM-FM radio started broadcasting from the Bayville section of Berkeley Township in March 1968. The station relocated to studios in Toms River in 2013.

91.9 WBNJ provides local news, PSAs and events; as well as weather updates.

Roads and highways
The county had a total of 2958.5 mi of roadways, of which 2164.2 mi are maintained by the municipality, 615.5 mi by Ocean County and 140.19 mi by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and 38.59 mi by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

Ocean County has various major roads that pass through. Those routes are listed below:


 * U.S. Route 9 (The only U.S. Highway in the county)
 * Route 13
 * Route 35
 * Route 37
 * Route 70
 * Route 72
 * Route 88
 * Route 166
 * Interstate 195 (The only Interstate to pass through Ocean County; It runs entirely in Jackson Township)
 * The Garden State Parkway extends 38.5 mi from Bass River Township in Burlington County in the south to Wall Township in Monmouth County to the north. The Parkway's Ocean Service Area is located at milepost 76, between exits 74 and 77.

Several prominent 500 series county highways make up an important portion of the automobile corridors in Ocean County. These include County Road 526, County Road 527, County Road 528, County Road 530, County Road 532, County Road 539, County Road 547, County Road 549, County Road 554, and County Road 571.

Train
NJ Transit's (NJT) North Jersey Coast Line, which serves New York Penn Station and passes through Middlesex and Monmouth counties, offers service at the Bay Head and Point Pleasant Beach stations, located at the northernmost corner of the county. The Monmouth Ocean Middlesex Line is a passenger rail project proposed by NJT to serve the northern central part of the county. Southern Ocean County is also located about 25 miles from the Atlantic City Line, which provides service to Philadelphia.

NJ Transit
Bus service is provided on NJ Transit bus routes 130, 132, 136, and 139 to and from Lakewood Bus Terminal on the U.S. Route 9 corridor. Expanded use Route 9 BBS (bus bypass shoulder lanes) is under study. Bus route 559 provides service along Route 9 between Lakewood and Pleasantville before continuing to Atlantic City.

Bus route 137 provides service in three variants. One is a nonstop express between Toms River and New York City that operates seven days a week. The other two are rush hour only services, one operating along County Route 549 between Toms River and Brick Township before continuing onto New York City. The Other begins and ends in Lakewood, operating via County Line Road to the Brick park and ride before continuing to New York.

Bus route 67 operates between Toms River and Newark, providing service along County Route 549 between Toms River and Brick before continuing onto Lakewood and points north. Bus Route 317 crosses the county in an east–west fashion on its route between Philadelphia and Asbury Park. This route also provides service to Fort Dix, Camden, and other destinations. Bus route 319 makes a single stop in Toms River on its route between Atlantic City and New York.

Ocean Ride
Ocean Ride is a county wide system with 12 regular routes, many serving Ocean County Mall, which acts as transfer hub. Of these routes, only the OC 10 (Lavallette to Toms River) operates Monday-Saturday, with the OC 4 (Point Pleasant to Lakewood) operating Monday-Friday. All other routes run 2–3 days a week. Ocean Ride also provides paratransit service throughout the county.

Other services
Academy Bus provides service between various areas in the northern part of the county and New York City. Many of the retirement communities contract for the operation of shuttle buses to connect the communities with various shopping centers in the county.

Municipalities
The 33 municipalities in Ocean County with 2010 census data for population, housing units, and area in square miles are: Other, unincorporated communities in the county are listed alongside their parent municipality (or municipalities). Most of these areas are census-designated places that have been created by the United States Census Bureau for enumeration purposes within a Township. The numbers in parentheses stand for the numbers on the map.

Former municipalities

 * Island Beach (1933-1965)