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Home > Community Development > Community Profiles > Ocean City, NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) > Demographics and Economic Data

Community Profile: Ocean City, NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Demographics and Economic Data

Included in this section is a brief summary of demographic and economic data. Detailed data can be accessed through the following websites:

• Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council : The website includes a geocoding/mapping system that allows users to obtain census data based on specific street addresses and a census report system that provides census information by census tract within a county or MSA.
• PolicyMap : This geographic information system, which includes an interactive mapping tool developed by The Reinvestment Fund, allows users to create custom maps, tables, and charts for over 10,000 indicators and provides the ability to plot external data.
• U.S. Census Bureau American FactFinder : Official source for population, housing, economic, and geographic data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Included below is a summary of the following data:

• Population
• Income
• Poverty Level
• Housing Units
• Housing Permits
• Local Industries
• Unemployment Rate
• Education

Population1

The population of the Ocean City, NJ MSA rose from 95,089 in 1990 to 102,326 in 2000, a 7.6 percent increase. During the same period, the state of New Jersey experienced an 8.9 percent increase in population, while the city of Ocean City’s population declined 0.9 percent.

Table 1 shows the racial composition of the state of New Jersey, Ocean City MSA, and city of Ocean City based on the 2000 census. In the Ocean City, NJ MSA, 91.6 percent of the population was white, compared to 72.5 percent of the population for the state.  In the city of Ocean City, there was an even higher percentage of white residents (93.7 percent). The last line of the table represents the percentage of the total population who stated they were Hispanic or Latino in origin.

The racial composition of the Ocean City, NJ MSA is illustrated in Figure 1.

The racial composition of those who reported they were Hispanic or Latino in origin within the Ocean City, NJ MSA (3.1 percent of the total population for the MSA) is illustrated in Figure 2.

Income

The 1999 median household income for the Ocean City, NJ MSA was $41,591, and the median family income was $51,402. Statewide, the median household income was $55,146, and the median family income was $65,370. In the same year, the median household income for the city of Ocean City was $44,158, and the median family income was $61,731.1

The term low- and moderate-income persons (LMI) is used for CRA and community development purposes and includes people and communities whose income is less than 80 percent of the area median income. People and communities whose income is less than 50 percent of the area median income are considered low income and those whose income exceeds 50 percent, but does not exceed 80 percent, are considered moderate income.

In 2000, there were 42,140 households within the Ocean City, NJ MSA. Of all households in all census tracts, 22.6 percent were households with low incomes and 17.2 percent were households with moderate incomes. A household's income is not necessarily an indicator of the income of the census tract in which the household resides. As Table 2 indicates, 65.9 percent of all households with low incomes resided in middle- and upper-income census tracts and 72.5 percent of all households with moderate incomes resided in middle- and upper-income census tracts. 2

In 2007, there were 24 census tracts in the Ocean City, NJ MSA. Of the total, none were low-income tracts and six were moderate-income tracts. In the city of Ocean City, there were three census tracts. None of these were low-income or moderate-income tracts. 2

Poverty Level1

In 1999, the Ocean City, NJ MSA had 8,549 residents living below the poverty line, or 8.6 percent of the MSA population. Statewide, 8.5 percent of the population was living below the poverty line. The city of Ocean City had 1,031 residents (6.8 percent of the total population) living below the poverty line.

Information about how the U.S. Census Bureau measures poverty is available through its website.

Housing Units1

In 2000, the Ocean City, NJ MSA had a total of 91,047 housing units. Reflecting its summer tourism-driven economy, 46.3 percent of these were occupied and 53.7 percent were vacant. Of the occupied housing units, 74.3 percent were occupied by the owner, and 25.7 percent were occupied by a renter. The state of New Jersey had a total of 3,310,275 housing units, of which 92.6 percent were occupied and 7.4 percent were vacant. The city of Ocean City had a total of 20,298 housing units, of which 36.8 percent were occupied and 63.2 percent were vacant.

The reasons for vacancies are illustrated in Figure 3.

Housing Permits3

In January 2007, 119 housing permits for new, privately owned houses in the Ocean City, NJ MSA were issued. Of this group, 58.6 housing permits were for 1- to 4-unit homes. These numbers have been seasonally adjusted.

More current information regarding housing permits in the Ocean City, NJ MSA and other areas within the Third Federal Reserve District is available through a database on the Regional Employment, Unemployment, and Selected Statistics page of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Research Department. 

Local Industries3

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Research Department maintains a database of monthly employment data by industry for the Ocean City, NJ MSA (Excel spreadsheet). Please note that all values for industry employment in this file are in thousands.

Unemployment Rate4

In 2006, the Ocean City, NJ MSA had an annual unemployment rate of 6.8 percent, compared with a rate of 4.6 percent for the state of New Jersey. Unemployment data for the city of Ocean City are not available.

More recent unemployment data are available through the Bureau of Labor Statistics' website.

Education1

In the Ocean City, NJ MSA, 22 percent of the population that is 25 years of age or older has a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the city of Ocean City, 33.5 percent of the population that is 25 years of age or older has received a bachelor’s degree or higher. For the state of New Jersey, this figure is 29.8 percent. See Figure 4 for more details.

• 1 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, “2000 Census – Summary File 3,” http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en 
• 2 Source: Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), http://www.ffiec.gov. 
• 3 Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Research Department, “Regional Employment, Unemployment, and Selected Statistics,” http://www.philadelphiafed.org/research-and-data/regional-economy/
• 4 Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Local Area Unemployment Statistics,” 2005 annual data, http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/outside.jsp?survey=la 

• Last updated: Monday, October 29, 2007