Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Sea Bright’s household incomes are higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
6.9% of residents are in poverty, against 9.7% across New Jersey. Sea Bright grades B+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 43.7 in Jersey City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Sea Bright
Sea Bright is the work center of its corner
Every town that borders Sea Bright (Rumson, Monmouth Beach, Highlands and Middletown Township) has fewer jobs than working residents, while Sea Bright has 1.5 per resident. Next door ↓
Sea Bright has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Sea Bright went from 528 in 2014 to 1,015 in 2024, +92%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Sea Bright
74% of Sea Bright residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 42% of the jobs based in Sea Bright pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 657 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How Sea Bright earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sea Bright is better than 75% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Sea Bright’s grade up ($143,241, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sea Bright could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Jobs in Sea Bright: what the 1,015 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sea Bright, 2014 → 2024: 528 → 1,015. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sea Bright’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Sea Bright
On a workday 623 residents head out to work, 34 work right here, and 981 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Sea Bright on a workday afternoon, 25% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where Sea Bright’s workforce comes from
Where Sea Bright clocks in
14% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
About 38 minutes each way, longer than most of New Jersey
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sea Bright workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 731 commuters (the 18% who work from home are left out). Across New Jersey: 75% drive alone, 10% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far Sea Bright’s workers travel
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Sea Bright is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 887 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 59% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 72% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.1% of Sea Bright households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 9% of Sea Bright’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Sea Bright ranks: 880th of 6,308 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Alpine NJ | 1,759 | $247K | 6.2% | 6.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Sea Girt NJ | 1,874 | $214K | 3.3% | 4.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Oldmans Township NJ | 1,954 | $113K | 3.2% | 11.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 878 | Jackson Township OH | 1,034 | $99K | 1.2% | 7.6% | 1% | A− |
| 879 | Hebron IL | 1,392 | $85K | 6.6% | 3.5% | 6% | B+ |
| 880 | Sea Bright NJ | 1,460 | $143K | 6.9% | 6.0% | 5% | B+ |
| 881 | Dalton OH | 1,921 | $69K | 4.1% | 3.9% | 10% | B+ |
| 882 | Ozawkie Township KS | 1,638 | $99K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Sea Bright, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
How Sea Bright compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Middletown Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sea Bright workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea Bright | – | B+ | A | 38 min | $143,241 |
| Rumson | under 2% | A | A+ | 45 min | $250,000+ |
| Monmouth Beach | under 2% | A | A | 32 min | $150,188 |
| Highlands | under 2% | B− | A+ | 35 min | $91,913 |
| Middletown Township | 5% | A− | A | 35 min | $141,810 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sea Bright’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 2024, 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 Sea Bright: questions
What is the median household income in Sea Bright?
$143,241 (±$29,773) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sea Bright?
6.9%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sea Bright?
38 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sea Bright work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (14%, 22 mi), Middletown Township (5%, 6 mi), Red Bank (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Sea Bright walkable?
Sea Bright is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sea Bright without a car?
9% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sea Bright, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sea Bright
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.