Ocean County is a county in the central part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, and the southernmost county in the New York metropolitan area. The county borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east and in terms of total area is the state's largest county. Its county seat is Toms River. The county is part of the Jersey Shore region of the state.
Since 2020, Ocean County has been the fastest-growing county in New Jersey, with a population of 637,229 recorded at the 2020 United States census, its highest decennial count ever and ranking the county as the state's sixth-most populous county, with an increase of 60,662 (+10.5%) from the 576,567 enumerated at the 2010 census, which in turn reflected an increase of 65,651 (+12.8%) from the 510,916 counted in the 2000 census. Since 2010, Ocean County's population has been growing faster than the United States as a whole. The United States Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program estimated a 2023 population of 659,197, an increase of 21,968 (+3.4%) from the 2020 decennial census. Ocean County’s most populous and fastest-growing place is Lakewood Township, with an estimated 139,866 residents as of 2023, while Jackson Township covers 100.62 square miles (260.6 km), the largest total area of any municipality in the county.
