Work & commute · Ocean

Work & commute in Ocean, NJ

Most working residents leave Ocean for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Toms River (10%), Stafford (6%) and Lacey (5%). Half commute less than 29 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

215 of 3,695 working residents

Typical commute

29 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

37 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,480 Ocean residents head out of town to work, 215 work right here, and 875 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ocean.

3,480live here, work elsewhere

215live and work here

875work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ocean goes to work

Toms River14.5 mi away

10%354

Ocean (in town)right here

6%215

Stafford6.3 mi away

6%211

Lacey5.7 mi away

5%167

Lakewood20 mi away

4%141

Barnegat3.7 mi away

3%119

Berkeley8.7 mi away

3%105

New York, NY62.2 mi away

3%102

Brick19.8 mi away

3%97

Trenton42 mi away

2%67

Everywhere elseother towns and states

57%2,117

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.

23%

24%

31%

22%

23%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

31%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ocean is a commuter town

0.29jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.29 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Ocean are

1,090 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

1,090 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month48%

Jobs Ocean residents hold

3,695 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month64%

−8%

Jobs based in Ocean, 2013 → 2023: 1,187 → 1,090. 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.