ZIP Code 08226

As of the 2010 U.S. census, the city's population was 11,701, reflecting a decline of 3,677 (23.9%) from the 15,378 counted in the 2000 census. In summer months, with an influx of tourists and second homeowners, there are estimated to be 115,000 to 130,000 within Ocean City's borders. The city is named for its location on the Atlantic Ocean. Ocean City has not allowed the sale of alcoholic beverages within its limits since its founding in 1879. It was ranked the third-best beach in New Jersey in the 2008 Top 10 Beaches Contest sponsored by the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium. The boardwalk that stretches for 2.5 miles (4.0 km) runs through the center of the city. A large fire in 1927 caused $1.5 million in damage and led the city to move the boardwalk closer to the ocean, which resulted in the greater potential for damage from saltwater. In 1920, the Chamber of Commerce adopted the slogan "America's Greatest Family Resort" In 1881, the Ocean City Association passed a set of blue laws, which were designed to enforce the religious standards of the town. The town was formed from portions of Upper Township, based on results from a referendum on April 30, 1884, and was reincorporated as a borough on March 31, 1890. The first bridge to the island was built in 1883, and the West Jersey Railroad opened in 1884. The ship Sindia joined other shipwrecks on the beach on December 15, 1901.

History

In 1633, Dutch navigator David Pietersz. de Vries referred to "flat sand beaches with low hills between Cape May and Egg Harbor", possibly the earliest reference to the island that became Ocean City. In 1700, whaler John Peck began using the barrier island as a storage place for freshly caught whales. On September 10, 1879, four Methodist ministers established a Christian retreat and camp meeting on the order of Ocean Grove. In 1881, the Ocean City Association passed a set of blue laws, which were designed to enforce religious standards. In 1920, the Chamber of Commerce adopted the slogan "America's Greatest Family Resort" A large fire in 1927 caused $1.5 million in damage and led the city to move the boardwalk closer to the ocean, which resulted in the greater potential for damage from saltwater. The ship Sindia joined other shipwrecks on the beach on December 15, 1901, on its way to New York City from Kobe, Japan, but has since sunk below the sand. A salvage attempt to retrieve treasures believed to have been on the ship was most recently launched in the 1970s, all of which have been unsuccessful. In May 2012, 68.8% of voters rejected a ballot initiative for BYOBbring your own bottle. As of 2016, Ocean City was one of 32 dry towns in New Jersey. Despite the prohibition in the city, 18.3% of adults in the Ocean city metropolitan statistical area (which includes all of Cape May County) drink heavily or binge drink.

Geography

Since 1951, the beach has been replenished more than 40 times, potentially the most of any beach in the country. The city utilizes 39% of its land area1,716 acres (694 ha) for parks and recreation purposes. There are several parks within the confines of Ocean City, including ten playgrounds scattered across the island. At the southern end of the island is Corson's Inlet State Park, which was established in 1969 to preserve one of the last undeveloped tracts of land along the oceanfront.Across from the Ocean City Airport is the Howard Stainton Wildlife Refuge, a 16 acres (6.5 ha) area of wetlands established in 1997. Adjacent to the airport is the Ocean city Municipal Golf Course, a 12hole course run by the city and open to the public. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has handled responsibility for beach nourishment projects, roughly every three years, using the shoal area about 5,000 feet (1,500 m) offshore the Great Egg Harbor Inlet. The most recent replenishment was completed in December 2017. After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the Army Corps completed the city's largest beach replenishment since 1993, adding 1,800,000 cubic yards of sand to replenish the eroded beaches. The project and funding was authorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, and the most recent project was funded by the federal government in 1986. The island is about 8-mile (13 km) long and is bordered by the Strathmere section of Upper Township.

Demographics

As of the 2020 U.S. census there were 15,378 people, 7,464 households, and 4,008 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 93.57% White, 4.31% African American, 0.12% Native American,0.56% Asian, 0,07% Pacific Islander, 0, 52% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.99% of the population. The median household income was $55,202 (with a margin of error of +/ $6,710) and the median family income was$79,196 (+/ $11,239) in 2010. The per capita income for the city in 2010 was $40,864 (-/ $3,899). About 5.1% of families and 6.4% of people were below the poverty line, including 4.3% of those under age 18 and 5.8% ofThose age 65 or over. The average household size was 1.98 and the average family size was 2.68. The city has a population of 11,701, with 20,871 housing units at an average density of 3,295.7 per square mile (1,272.5/km²) The median age is 53.6 years. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 86.4 males. The population was spread out, with 16.7% from 18 to 24, 23.8%. from 25 to 44, 28.3%. from 45 to 64, and 25.9% who were 65 or older.

Economy

Beach tags are a major source of revenue for the city, with the $4.1 million in revenue generated in the 2016 season, the most of any municipality in the state. The boardwalk was first built in 1880 from the Second Street wharf to Fourth Street and West Avenue. A second amusement park, the "I.G. Adams pavilion", at Ninth Street and the boardwalk, opened soon after but was destroyed by fire in 1893. In Fall 2013, the city began a $10 million project to rebuild the 85 year old boardwalk from 5th to 12th Streets. This replaced the concrete substructure from 1928 with wooden supports and pine decking, and included the removal of 12,000 cubic yards (9,200 m3) of sand. In 2007 controversy emerged about the city's proposed use of ipê, a type of wood, to re-deck parts of the board walk. The work finished two years ahead of schedule in March 2018. The city has a daily blog that update the city as a whole, called OCNJDaily. Media in Ocean City include its two newspapers, The Ocean City Sentinel and The Sure Guide Magazine. Ocean City also has a seasonal publication known as Ocean City Sure Guide magazine, known as The Ocean city Sure Guide. It was founded in 1885 as the first amusement house, a pavilion on the beach at 11th street called "The Excursion" In 1965, the Wonderland Amusement Park opened at 6th Street, now known as Gillian's Wonderland Pier.

Sports

Ocean City Nor'easters of USL League Two play at Carey Stadium. Ocean City Nor’easters play in the U.S. Premier League for the first time this season. The team is in the second tier of the United States football league system. The Nor'Easters are in the third division of the Premier League, which is in its second season. They play their home games at the Carey Stadium in Ocean City, New Jersey. They are in League Two of the league's second tier, the second-highest level in the league behind League One. They were in League One last season, playing at the Stadium of Light in New Jersey, before moving to Carey Stadium for the 2014-15 season. Their previous home games were at the New Jersey Memorial Stadium in the city’s downtown area, which was built in the 1960s. The stadium was built on the site of the former New Jersey State Fairgrounds, which opened in the 1950s. It is located on the banks of the N.J. shoreline. The N.C. shorelines are on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. The city is on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, where the Nanticoke River runs through the city. The harbor is also on the coast, and the city has a population of about 2,000. The town has a history of hosting professional sports teams, including the New York Yankees, New York Mets, New England Patriots, and New York Rangers.

Government

The City of Ocean City was incorporated on March 25, 1897. Since July 1, 1978, the city has operated under the mayorcouncil system of municipal government. The mayor, the chief executive of the community, is chosen at-large for a four-year term at the municipal election in May and serves part-time for a yearly salary. The City Council is the legislative body and is comprised of seven members, of which four members represent individual wards and three are elected at- Large. The city is located in the 2nd Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 1st state legislative district. New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Democrats Cory Booker (Newark, term ends 2027) and Bob Menendez (Harrison, term end 2025) Cape May County is governed by a five-person Board of County Commissioners whose members are elected on a partisan basis to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis. At an annual reorganization held each January, the commissioners select one member to serve as director and another to serving as vice-director. As of March 2011, there were 8,810 registered voters in Ocean City, which was 3,776 as Democrats (19%) and 3,842 as Republicans (42%) The county's constitutional officers areCounty Clerk Rita Marie Rothberg and Sheriff Dean Marcolongo. For the 2022-2023 session, the 1st Legislative District of the New Jersey Legislature is represented by Mike Testa (R, Vineland) and in the General Assembly by Antwan McClellan.

Education

The Ocean City School District serves public school students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 202021 school year, the district, comprised of three schools, had an enrollment of 2,056 students and 220.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a studentteacher ratio of 9.3:1. Schools in the district (with 202021 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Ocean City Primary School with 299 students in grades PreK-3, Ocean City Intermediate School with 468 students ingrades 4-8 and Ocean City High School with 1,274 students in grade 9-12. Students from Corbin City, Longport, Sea Isle City and Upper Township attend Ocean City High school for ninth through tw12 grades as part of sending/receiving relationships with their respective school districts. Special needs students may be referred to Cape May County Special Services School District in the Cape May Court House area. St. Augustine Regional School, a coeducational Catholic school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, was closed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden in June 2008. Bishop McHugh Regional Catholic School in Dennis Township had students attending from Ocean City.Students are also eligible to attend Cape May county Technical High School, which serves students from the entire county in its comprehensive and vocational programs, which are offered without charge to students who are county residents. Starting in the 2012-13 schoolyear, all students from Sea Isle city in public school for pre-Kinderg preschool through 12th grade attend Ocean city's public schools.

Transportation

As of May 2010, the city had a total of 126.07 miles (202.89 km) of roadways, of which 114.85 miles (184.83 km) were maintained by the municipality. In 1883, the first drawbridge to the island opened at 34th Street, linking Ocean City with the rest of Cape May County. In 1914, a bridge connecting the island with Somers Point opened across the Great Egg Harbor Bay, which was replaced in 1932 and again in 2012. In 2009, the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area (Cape May County) ranked as the sixth-highest in the U.S. for percentage of commuters who walked to work (8.4 percent) The city offers a summer Jitney service, with a route providing daily service on evenings from points between 59th Street and Battersea Road to the boardwalk. NJ Transit provides bus service from Ocean City Transportation Center to Atlantic City on the 507 and 509 routes. The agency also provides seasonal service from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan to Cape May via Ocean City and other coastal towns. Ocean City Airport, officially known as Clarke Field, was built in 1935 on what was previously a landfill, funded by the Works Progress Administration. The airport is still open to the public, operating at an annual loss of $150,000 for the city as of 2016. In 1880, one year after Ocean City was established as a Christian resort, regular steamboat service from Somers Point began. From 1907 to 1946, the Atlantic City and Shore Railroad operated a line from Atlantic City to Ocean City.

Culture

In 2011, the episode "The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore" was aired. The episode was criticized for being too raunchy for the city. In 2004, the city was not allowed to conduct business on Sundays. The city has a reputation for being a conservative town. It is not known if the episode will be re-aired in the future or if it will be scrapped. The show was a success and has been viewed as one of the best episodes of the series so far. It was also the first time the city had been featured in a major TV series. It has been the subject of several books, including "Jersey Shore: The Making of a City" and "The Jersey Shore: A History of the Shore" The episode is based on a book written by John Sutter and published by The New York Review of Books. The book is about the history of the city and its role in the development of the state. It also tells the story of how the city came to be in the first place, and how it has changed over time. In the book, Sutter describes the city as a place that has a long tradition of being conservative. He also says that the city has always had a strong Christian heritage. The town has a history of being involved with the military, which has been a part of its culture since the early 1900s. The state has a tradition of supporting the military in its dealings with the state, which was founded in 17th century. It's the first of its kind.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Ocean City, Cape May County, New Jersey = 83. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 20. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 20. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Ocean City = 3.8 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 3,504 individuals with a median age of 50.5 age the population dropped by -4.50% in Ocean City, Cape May County, New Jersey population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,662.8 residents per square mile of area (642.0/km²). There are average 1.98 people per household in the 7,265 households with an average household income of $57,789 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 10.60% of the available work force and has growths 8.15% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 45.70%. The number of physicians in Ocean City per 100,000 population = 160.7.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Ocean City = 45.1 inches and the annual snowfall = 11.3 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 118. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 204. 84 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 23.8 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 47, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Ocean City, Cape May County, New Jersey which are owned by the occupant = 20.66%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 33 years with median home cost = $477,680 and home appreciation of -8.33%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $17.71 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $11,613 per student. There are 10.9 students for each teacher in the school, 529 students for each Librarian and 353 students for each Counselor. 6.17% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 23.26% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 10.32% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).