Ocean County is a county in New Jersey, United States, on the Jersey Shore about 70 miles south of New York City and 50 miles east of Philadelphia. It had a population of 637,229 at the 2020 census, an estimated 673,746 by 2025, and covers 914.84 square miles (2,369.4 km2) centred near 39\u00b052\u2032N 74\u00b015\u2032W.<\/p>\n
Toms River is the county seat; its postal code is 08753. The county holds 33 municipalities — 14 townships and 19 boroughs, with no separate city or town designation among them — and it runs on Eastern time. Its FIPS code is 34029.<\/p>\n
Every acre of Ocean County sits inside one of its 33 municipalities; New Jersey has no unincorporated county territory. The table below covers all 33, each self-governing as either a township or a borough, with 2020 census population and ZIP code.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barnegat Township<\/td>\n | Township<\/td>\n | 24,296<\/td>\n | 08005<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Barnegat Light<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 640<\/td>\n | 08006<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bay Head<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 930<\/td>\n | 08742<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Beach Haven<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 1,027<\/td>\n | 08008<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Beachwood<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 10,859<\/td>\n | 08722<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Berkeley Township<\/td>\n | Township<\/td>\n | 43,754<\/td>\n | 08721<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Brick Township<\/td>\n | Township<\/td>\n | 73,620<\/td>\n | 08723–08724<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Eagleswood Township<\/td>\n | Township<\/td>\n | 1,722<\/td>\n | 08092<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Harvey Cedars<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 391<\/td>\n | 08008<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Island Heights<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 1,650<\/td>\n | 08732<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Jackson Township<\/td>\n | Township<\/td>\n | 58,544<\/td>\n | 08527<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lacey Township<\/td>\n | Township<\/td>\n | 28,655<\/td>\n | 08731<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lakehurst<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 2,636<\/td>\n | 08733<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lakewood Township<\/td>\n | Township<\/td>\n | 135,158<\/td>\n | 08701<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lavallette<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 1,787<\/td>\n | 08735<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Little Egg Harbor Township<\/td>\n | Township<\/td>\n | 20,784<\/td>\n | 08087<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Long Beach Township<\/td>\n | Township<\/td>\n | 3,153<\/td>\n | 08008<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Manchester Township<\/td>\n | Township<\/td>\n | 45,115<\/td>\n | 08733\/08759<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Mantoloking<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 331<\/td>\n | 08738<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Ocean Gate<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 1,932<\/td>\n | 08740<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Ocean Township<\/td>\n | Township<\/td>\n | 8,835<\/td>\n | 08758<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Pine Beach<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 2,139<\/td>\n | 08741<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Plumsted Township<\/td>\n | Township<\/td>\n | 8,072<\/td>\n | 08533<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Point Pleasant<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 18,941<\/td>\n | 08742<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Point Pleasant Beach<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 4,766<\/td>\n | 08742<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Seaside Heights<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 2,440<\/td>\n | 08751<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Seaside Park<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 1,436<\/td>\n | 08752<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Ship Bottom<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 1,098<\/td>\n | 08008<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| South Toms River<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 3,643<\/td>\n | 08757<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Stafford Township<\/td>\n | Township<\/td>\n | 28,617<\/td>\n | 08050<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Surf City<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 1,243<\/td>\n | 08008<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Toms River Township<\/td>\n | Township · seat<\/td>\n | 95,438<\/td>\n | 08753–08757, 08739<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Tuckerton<\/td>\n | Borough<\/td>\n | 3,577<\/td>\n | 08087<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n A few names cause confusion. Toms River Township is the incorporated municipality and county seat; most of its people live in the mainland Toms River census area the township surrounds, and South Toms River is a separate, smaller borough enclaved inside it — not a neighborhood of it. Seaside Heights and Seaside Park sit on the same barrier-island block: Seaside Heights holds the boardwalk, arcades and amusement piers, while Seaside Park immediately south is quieter and mostly residential. Ocean Township, in the county’s south, is usually called by the name of its main village, Waretown, rather than its official township name — don’t confuse it with Ocean Gate borough or with Ocean County itself. Manchester Township’s population center is the unincorporated retirement community of Whiting; Stafford Township’s downtown is the unincorporated village of Manahawkin; Lacey Township’s is Forked River; Plumsted Township’s is New Egypt. None of the four is a separate municipality, so none gets its own row above.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nEvery one of the 33 municipalities has at least one ZIP code of its own or shares one with an immediate neighbor — unlike many rural counties, Ocean County has no hamlet left without postal service.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nThe county splits into two strips running north–south: a sandy barrier-island chain — Long Beach Island and the Barnegat Peninsula — separated from the mainland by Barnegat Bay and Manahawkin Bay, and a wider mainland strip that runs west into the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, a pine-and-oak forest over sandy, acidic soil. Land covers 628.29 square miles and water covers 286.55 square miles, 31.3 percent of the total. Barnegat Bay is the largest water body; the Toms River and the Metedeconk River both drain into it from the west.<\/p>\n Ocean County borders Monmouth County to the north, Burlington County to the west, Atlantic County to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.<\/p>\n Demographics<\/h2>\nThe county had 637,229 residents at the 2020 census, estimated at 673,746 by 2025. Lakewood Township is the most populous municipality at 135,158, followed by Toms River Township at 95,438; together they hold more than a third of the county’s population. Median household income is $89,863, below New Jersey’s statewide $103,556. Population density runs about 1,014 people per square mile of land, though it varies sharply — from under 100 per square mile in rural Eagleswood Township to well over 3,000 in the small boroughs of Pine Beach and South Toms River.<\/p>\n Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\nHealth care and social assistance is the county’s largest employment sector, with 45,211 workers, ahead of educational services (35,900) and retail trade (35,474), out of roughly 284,000 employed residents. Six Flags Great Adventure and its adjoining Hurricane Harbor water park, in Jackson Township, is one of the county’s largest seasonal employers. Beth Medrash Govoha, in Lakewood, is the largest yeshiva outside Israel and enrolls more than 6,500 students, anchoring a Lakewood community where more than half the population is Orthodox Jewish. RWJBarnabas Health runs Community Medical Center in Toms River and Ocean University Medical Center in Brick Township; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, home to the former Lakehurst Naval Air Station, sits partly within Manchester Township. Ocean County College, also in Toms River, is the county’s public two-year college. The county’s biggest annual event is the Long Beach Island Chowderfest, held in Beach Haven every October since the 1970s.<\/p>\n History<\/h2>\nThe New Jersey Legislature created Ocean County on February 15, 1850, out of southern Monmouth County, and named it for the Atlantic Ocean it borders. On May 6, 1937, the German airship Hindenburg caught fire and crashed while landing at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, in Manchester Township, killing 36 people in one of the era’s most photographed disasters. The Garden State Parkway reached Toms River in 1952 and extended south to Manahawkin by 1954, opening the shore to car-based development and turning small resort boroughs into year-round suburbs over the following decades. On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall near the county, breaching the barrier island at Mantoloking, tearing the Star Jet roller coaster off its Seaside Heights pier into the ocean, and damaging thousands of homes from Bay Head to Long Beach Island; rebuilding continued for years afterward.<\/p>\n Getting There<\/h2>\nThe Garden State Parkway runs the length of the county, with Exit 82 serving Toms River and Route 37 to the barrier island, and Exit 72 serving Stafford Township, Manahawkin and Route 72 to Long Beach Island. U.S. Route 9 is the county’s only U.S. highway. Interstate 195 crosses only the northern edge of Jackson Township — the sole interstate mileage in the county.<\/p>\n
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