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In terms of percentage of registered voters, 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. The last Democratic presidential candidate to win Ocean County was Bill Clinton in 1996, who carried the county with 46% of the vote. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The only other time it did not back a Republican was in 1912 when it voted for Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party with a plurality of the vote. In 2024, the county's Republican tilt increased in support of Donald Trump, the best such performance since Reagan's 1984 landslide.

As of 2024, all of its state legislators, County commissioners, and countywide constitutional officers are Republicans. 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.

Education

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.

Primary and secondary schools

thumb|upright=1.1|[[Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood is the world's largest yeshiva outside of Israel.]]

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, was home to the world's tallest and formerly fastest roller coaster, Kingda Ka, which closed in November 2024. The park also contains Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, New Jersey's largest water park, and the Safari Off Road Adventure, the largest drive-thru animal safari outside of Africa.

Approximately of barrier beaches form the Barnegat and Little Egg Harbor Bays, offering ample watersports. It also is home of the Tuckerton Seaport, a 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 surrounding Barnegat Lighthouse at the northern tip of Long Beach Island.
  • Island Beach State Park has of coastal dunes.
  • Double Trouble State Park includes of land in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
  • Brendan T. Byrne State Forest includes 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 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.

Transportation

Roads and highways

thumb|300px|Entering Ocean County on the northbound [[Garden State Parkway in Little Egg Harbor Township]]

The county had a total of of roadways, of which are maintained by the municipality, by Ocean County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and 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 from Bass River Township in Burlington County in the south to Wall Township in Monmouth County to the north.

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.

Public transportation

Train

NJ Transit's (NJT) North Jersey Coast Line, which serves New York Penn Station and passes through Middlesex County 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 from the Atlantic City Line, which provides service to Philadelphia.

Bus

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 U.S. Route 9 between Lakewood Township and Pleasantville before continuing to Atlantic City.

Bus route 137 provides service in three variants. One is a nonstop express between Toms River and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan 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 to New York City. The other begins and ends in Lakewood Township, 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.