Ocean City’s household incomes are lower than in 76% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 9.2% of residents, next to 12.6% for Florida as a whole. The two grades for Ocean City are B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. At home: 3% of workers have no commute at all (Florida 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Ocean City: the gist
A lot of Ocean City works one town over
29% of working residents work in a town that borders Ocean City: Fort Walton Beach (20%) and Wright (9%). Next door ↓
Few Ocean City workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Ocean City’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ocean City is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #381 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Ocean City’s grade up (ahead of 60% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($59,039, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ocean City could be anywhere from C− to A−.
How long Ocean City spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ocean City workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,270 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Florida: 83% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many people are in Ocean City by day
On a workday 2,390 residents head out to work, 118 work right here, and 1,677 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,200 people are in Ocean City on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.72 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
20% of working residents work in Fort Walton Beach
Where Ocean City clocks in
20% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The kinds of work in Ocean City
1,795 jobs are based in Ocean City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ocean City, 2013 → 2023: 1,594 → 1,795. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ocean City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Ocean City
About 16% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Ocean City is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ocean City is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns, #435 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.6% across Florida.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,385 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.4% of Ocean City households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ocean City’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Ocean City ranks: 2,014th of 3,336 U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Southwest Ranches FL | 7,773 | $161K | 3.8% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 174 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,012 | Greenbrier AR | 6,645 | $57K | 10.1% | 3.3% | 11% | B− |
| 2,013 | Laureldale PA | 4,352 | $70K | 12.0% | 6.6% | 3% | B− |
| 2,014 | Ocean City FL | 5,941 | $59K | 9.2% | 4.4% | 5% | B− |
| 2,015 | Pinckneyville IL | 4,903 | $70K | 9.1% | 3.3% | 24% | C+ |
| 2,016 | Canal Fulton OH | 5,412 | $62K | 13.9% | 4.4% | 8% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,336 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Ocean City, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
29% of Ocean City works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Fort Walton Beach (20%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ocean City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean City | – | B− | B− | 25 min | $59,039 |
| Wright | 9% | C+ | B+ | 25 min | $70,195 |
| Fort Walton Beach | 20% | B− | B+ | 23 min | $68,538 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ocean City’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Ocean City: questions
What is the median household income in Ocean City?
$59,039 (±$6,295) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ocean City?
9.2%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ocean City?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ocean City work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Walton Beach (20%, 1 mi), Wright (9%, 2 mi), Destin (8%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ocean City walkable?
Ocean City is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 10.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ocean City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ocean City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ocean City
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.