TownTapestry
Sign inJoin
OceanGood night
Work & commute · Ocean

Work & commute in Ocean, MD

About one in 3 of Ocean’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Salisbury (6%), West Ocean City (5%) and Berlin (3%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times
Work in town
39%
1,126 of 2,894 working residents
Typical commute
8 mi
Half commute less than this, straight-line
Average commute time
20 min
One way, from the Census survey
Work from home
17%
of workers, from the Census survey
Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,768 Ocean residents head out of town to work, 1,126 work right here, and 5,384 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ocean.

1,768live here, work elsewhere
1,126live and work here
5,384work here, live elsewhere
Leave for workStayCome in
The map

Where Ocean goes to work

LewesSelbyvilleMillsboroSnow HillBerlinPocomoke CityOcean CityEastonSalisburyBaltimoreWest Ocean CityOcean PinesSalisburyWest Ocean CityBerlinBaltimoreSelbyvilleLewesSnow HillOcean PinesEastonOcean
1
Ocean City (in town)right here
39%1,126
2
Salisbury28 mi away
6%160
3
West Ocean City4.9 mi away
5%139
4
Berlin9.5 mi away
3%94
5
Baltimore103.1 mi away
2%68
6
Selbyville, DE8.1 mi away
1%23
7
Lewes, DE25.7 mi away
1%21
8
Snow Hill23.9 mi away
1%21
9
Ocean Pines4.5 mi away
1%21
10
Easton59.6 mi away
1%17
Everywhere elseother towns and states
42%1,204

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Ocean commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

55%Under 10 mi
6%10–24 mi
13%25–50 mi
25%Over 50 mi
Job hub or commuter town?

Ocean is a job hub

2.25jobs per working resident
A job hub

2.2 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Ocean are

6,510 jobs are based in Ocean. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ocean’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Ocean

6,510 jobs
Goods (factories, building, farms)3%
Trade, transport & utilities11%
Services (health, schools, offices…)86%
$1,250 a month or less19%
$1,251–$3,333 a month38%
Over $3,333 a month43%

Jobs Ocean residents hold

2,894 working residents
Goods (factories, building, farms)9%
Trade, transport & utilities17%
Services (health, schools, offices…)74%
$1,250 a month or less16%
$1,251–$3,333 a month33%
Over $3,333 a month51%
+11%

Jobs based in Ocean, 2013 → 2023: 5,847 → 6,510. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.
Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.
Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.

We left the porch light on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Ocean, MDView boundary

Nearby

All towns & citiesExplore the map

Local begins with a boundary.

See what belongs to your selected town.

Loading boundary…

Ocean is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

Neighborhoods narrow the feed further, while townwide announcements, events, and issues remain visible.

Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
Open detailed map