Ocean County, NJ
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 39.87, -74.26.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 95th pct · 147th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 45th pct · 12th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $579,852
- 9th pct · 20th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median $680,195
- 72nd pct · 829th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 85th pct · 4th of 21 New Jersey counties · median +3.1%
- 57th pct · 10th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median +4.7%
- 95th pct · 67th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 70th pct · 7th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $2,291
- 28th pct · 16th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median $2,825
- 94th pct · 174th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 50th pct · 11th of 21 New Jersey counties · median 188,702
- 33rd pct · 15th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median 283,785
- 70th pct · 957th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 10th pct · 19th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $1,446
- 0th pct · 22nd of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median $1,632
- 96th pct · 113th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 90th pct · 3rd of 21 New Jersey counties · median 6.1
- 71st pct · 7th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median 8.4
Typical home value divided by the average annual wage of one covered job.
A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank: the smallest published value in the cohort is 0 and the largest is 100, and tied values share the average of the ranks they span. It is not the share of entities below the value, so 0 means smallest, not none below. Entities that did not publish the metric are outside the cohort entirely and are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
Home values #
Typical home $551,299 (Sep 2026), +4.8% over one year, +41.1% over five
- 95th pct · 147th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 45th pct · 12th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $579,852
- 9th pct · 20th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median $680,195
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Ocean County, NJ | $551,299 · +4.8% 1-yr |
Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), typical value of homes in the 35th to 65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted; a model estimate of value, not a sale price. Data through Zillow Research.
Rents #
Typical rent $2,588/mo (Sep 2026), +3.7% over one year; price-to-rent 17.7
- 95th pct · 67th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 70th pct · 7th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $2,291
- 28th pct · 16th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median $2,825
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Ocean County, NJ | $2,588/mo · +3.7% 1-yr |
Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), smoothed, all homes and multifamily; price-to-rent = typical home / (typical rent × 12).
What the typical home costs to carry #
Principal and interest of $3,054 a month on $551,299 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,983 a month: 61.3% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $551,299 × 80% = $441,039, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $3,054/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,150 × 52 / 12 = $4,983) = 61% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $551,299 / ($1,150 × 52) = 9.2
- price-to-rent = $551,299 / ($2,588 × 12) = 17.7
The wage is one covered job’s average, not a household’s income, so this is the share of a single paycheque and not a mortgage underwriting ratio.
Estimate. Principal and interest on the typical home with 20% down over 30 years at this week's Freddie Mac average rate; compared with the average weekly wage of all jobs covered by unemployment insurance in the area (BLS QCEW), which is pay per job, not household income.
Jobs & wages #
188,702 jobs at 16,811 employers (2026 Q1); +0.9% jobs and +3.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 94th pct · 174th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 50th pct · 11th of 21 New Jersey counties · median 188,702
- 33rd pct · 15th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median 283,785
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Ocean County, NJ | 188,702 jobs · $1,150/wk · +0.9% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 46,574 | $1,139 | 1.64 | +4.1% |
| Retail trade | 26,236 | $800 | 1.43 | -1.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 16,081 | $524 | 0.95 | +2.2% |
| Construction | 10,333 | $1,330 | 1.04 | -2.6% |
| Professional and technical services | 10,323 | $1,696 | 0.79 | +3.7% |
| Educational services | 9,534 | $694 | 2.35 | +1.7% |
| Other services | 7,560 | $743 | 1.34 | +1.2% |
| Administrative and waste services | 7,319 | $1,085 | 0.68 | -3.3% |
| Manufacturing | 5,577 | $1,455 | 0.37 | -2.4% |
| Wholesale trade | 4,833 | $1,599 | 0.67 | +2.6% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 3,848 | $667 | 1.24 | -1.5% |
| Real estate and rental | 3,716 | $1,464 | 1.28 | -0.1% |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, all ownerships, total covered employment in the quarter's third month; over-the-year changes as published. Suppressed cells stay blank.
Drought #
D0 abnormally dry
Sites found: 5, searched within 0 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 0 km away are not.
US Drought Monitor current week; the highest class of any polygon containing the point.
Reservoirs #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 150 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 150 km away are not.
Σ(capacity × percent full) / Σ capacity over TWDB reservoirs within 150 km. Texas only; elsewhere USGS reservoir elevation/storage is listed without a capacity to normalise by.
Stream gauges #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest readings screened against EPA freshwater criteria (DO ≥ 5 mg/L, pH 6.5–9, conductance, turbidity, temperature); NWS flood categories where a NWPS gauge is co-located.
Groundwater #
No USGS monitoring wells within 75 km (or above 1,500 km)
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest daily water levels. A single latest reading says where the table is, not which way it is moving; select a well for its 365-day trace.
Water stress #
low (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$24.5 bn in deposits at 132 offices of 22 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,108, moderately concentrated. $4.7 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $4.6 bn, contracts $112.9 m), $25,164 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| TD Bank, National Association | $5.3 bn · 21.6% share · 16 offices | |
| OceanFirst Bank, National Association | $3.5 bn · 14.1% share · 11 offices | |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $2.7 bn · 11.1% share · 10 offices | |
| Ocean, NJ | $4.7 bn FY2026 · $25,164/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $4.4 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| TD Bank, National Association | $5,286,266,000 | 21.6% | 16 |
| OceanFirst Bank, National Association | $3,465,612,000 | 14.1% | 11 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $2,722,501,000 | 11.1% | 10 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $2,329,195,000 | 9.5% | 15 |
| Santander Bank, N.A. | $2,162,459,000 | 8.8% | 13 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $1,866,504,000 | 7.6% | 9 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $1,467,399,000 | 6.0% | 8 |
| Provident Bank | $950,922,000 | 3.9% | 7 |
| Manasquan Bank | $853,534,000 | 3.5% | 5 |
| First Commerce Bank | $700,661,000 | 2.9% | 3 |
Deposit concentration is 1,108 across 22 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 22 banks with deposits in the county = 21.6² + 14.1² + 11.1² + … (19 more) = 1,108
FDIC Summary of Deposits: deposits at every insured office as of June 30, annual; HHI is the sum of squared county deposit shares (DOJ 1995 bank merger screen: 1000 / 1800). USAspending: obligations by place of performance for the latest complete federal fiscal year (Oct 1 to Sep 30), what agencies committed, not what they paid out; recipients are legal entities. Per-job divides obligations by BLS QCEW covered employment.
Federal obligations #
USAspending place-of-performance obligations for FY2026, by awarding agency.
| Awarding agency | Obligations |
|---|---|
| Social Security Administration | $4,100,911,557 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $298,939,806 |
| Department of Defense | $103,883,333 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $100,768,780 |
| Department of Education | $53,875,164 |
| Department of Transportation | $38,804,224 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $29,884,207 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $11,792,181 |
| General Services Administration | $4,189,484 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $3,249,293 |
| Department of Justice | $2,049,729 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $1,761,996 |
That is $25,164 per covered job, against 188,702 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $4.7 bn / 188,702 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $25,164
USAspending obligations are recorded where the work is performed, so a prime award performed here is counted here even when the recipient is headquartered elsewhere. Recipients are legal entities, never people.
National context, not this county #
These are United States, single-gauge, single-state and port series. None of them is keyed to this county.
| Series | Latest | As of | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi River at Memphis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Mississippi River at St. Louis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Ohio River at Louisville, stage · ft | 17.95 | 2026-10-18 | -2.6% |
| Missouri River at St. Joseph, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Colorado River below Hoover Dam, flow (Hoover releases) · ft³/s | 5,170.00 | 2026-02-05 | -25.3% |
| Texas reservoirs, statewide percent full · % | 72.20 | 2026-10-19 | +0.0% |
| Laredo truck crossings, monthly · trucks | 258,700.00 | 2026-08-01 | -0.4% |
| Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual · TEU | 10,513,167.00 | 2023-01-01 | -13.5% |
| Containerships waiting for a berth, all US ports · ships | 7.00 | 2026-10-13 | +133.3% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 7,848.00 | 2026-09-01 | +14.9% |
| US diesel retail price · $ per gallon | unavailable | not published | |
| WTI crude oil, spot · $ per barrel | 101.91 | 2026-10-14 | +1.0% |
| 30-year fixed mortgage rate · % | 7.40 | 2026-10-15 | +0.0% |
| Housing starts, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,275.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.6% |
| Building permits, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,403.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.1% |
| Case-Shiller US home price index · index, Jan 2000 = 100 | 337.31 | 2026-07-01 | +0.1% |
| Unemployment rate · % | 4.20 | 2026-09-01 | +2.4% |
| US goods and services trade balance, monthly · $ millions | -105,572.00 | 2026-08-01 | -13.7% |
| Retail sales excluding food services, monthly · $ millions | 652,115.00 | 2026-09-01 | +0.7% |
The indicator registry has no county-keyed series and no geographic selection: every entry is national, a named gauge, a single state or a port. They are here as the backdrop the county's own numbers move against, and they are never this county's readings.
What changed #
Ocean County, NJ: 17 findings, 4 at a watch level and 13 noted
watchOcean County, NJ's years of wages of 9.2 ranks 113th of 3,063 US counties, a watch level here: years of wages in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- test: yearsOfWages percentile = 96.34225996080993 >= 90
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; not an official level
watchOcean County, NJ's average weekly wage of $1,150 scores 70 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 10 across New Jersey counties, a gap of 60 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 60 = |70 across US counties - 10 across New Jersey counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchOcean County, NJ's typical home value of $551,299 scores 95 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 45 across New Jersey counties, a gap of 50 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 50 = |95 across US counties - 45 across New Jersey counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchOcean County, NJ's covered employment of 188,702 scores 95 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 50 across New Jersey counties, a gap of 45 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 45 = |95 across US counties - 50 across New Jersey counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteOcean County, NJ's average weekly wage was 3.2% higher than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- +3.2 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
- the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
Read all 12 findings in the full brief
Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.