List of counties in New Jersey

Counties of New Jersey
A clickable New Jersey county map Clickable map of New Jersey counties
Location	New Jersey
Number	21
Populations	65,874 (Salem) – 978,641 (Bergen)
Areas	47 square miles (120 km2) (Hudson) – 805 square miles (2,080 km2) (Burlington)
Government	County government
Subdivisions	Boroughs, cities, towns, townships, and villages

There are 21 counties in the U.S. state of New Jersey. These counties together contain 564 municipalities, or administrative entities composed of clearly defined territory; 253 boroughs, 52 cities, 15 towns, 240 townships, and 4 villages. ^[1] In New Jersey, a county is a local level of government between the state and municipalities. County government in New Jersey includes a Board of County Commissioners, ^[2] sheriff, clerk, and surrogate (responsible for uncontested and routine probate), ^[3] all of which are elected officials. Counties organized under the Optional County Charter Law may also have an elected county executive. ^[4] Counties traditionally perform state-mandated duties such as the maintenance of jails, parks, and certain roads. ^[5] The site of a county's administration and courts is called the county seat.

History

See also: History of New Jersey

New Jersey was governed by two groups of proprietors as two distinct provinces, East Jersey and West Jersey, between 1674 and 1702. New Jersey's first counties were created as administrative districts within each province, with East Jersey split in 1675 into Bergen, Essex, Middlesex and Monmouth counties, while West Jersey's initial counties of Burlington and Salem date to 1681. ^{[6] [7]} The most recent county created in New Jersey is Union County, created in 1857 and named after the union of the United States when the Civil War was imminent. New Jersey's county names derive from several sources, though most of its counties are named after place names in England and prominent leaders in the colonial and revolutionary periods. Bergen County is the most populous county—as of the 2020 Census—with 955,732 people, while Salem County is the least populous with 64,837 people.

New Jersey legislature representation

Interactive map of counties in New Jersey

Until the 1960s, the New Jersey Senate had 21 representatives, one from each county regardless of population. In the wake of the 1964 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Reynolds v. Sims , establishing the one man, one vote principle that state legislative districts must be approximately equal in size, David Friedland filed suit in New Jersey Supreme Court on behalf of two union leaders, challenging a system under which each county was represented by a single member in the New Jersey Senate. The court ruled unanimously that the existing system was unconstitutional, ordered that interim measures be established by statute for the 1965 legislative elections, and ordered that the needed constitutional changes to restructure the New Jersey Legislature to be in compliance with "one man, one vote" requirements be in place before elections took place in 1967. ^[8] The senate unilaterally—by internal rule, not by statute—enacted a proposal whereby each senator's vote would be weighted based on the population of the county represented, under which Cape May County's senator would receive one vote while the senator from Essex County would receive 19.1 votes, in direct relation to the ratio of residents between counties. ^[9] The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that it was unconstitutional for the senate to adopt a weighted voting system unilaterally. ^{[9] [10]} In 1966, the constitution was amended to establish 40 districts statewide, each represented by one senator and two assembly members, without relation to county boundaries. ^[11]

FIPS code

New Jersey counties by population as of 2020 with darker colors indicating a higher population

The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry. FIPS codes are five-digit numbers; for New Jersey the codes start with 34 and are completed with the three-digit county code. The FIPS code for each county in the table links to census data for that county. ^[12]

List of counties

County	FIPS code [12]	County seat [13]	Largest City [14]	Est. [13]	Formed from [6] [7]	Named for [15]	Density (per mi2)	Pop. [16]	Area [13]	Map
AtlanticCounty	001	Mays Landing	Egg Harbor Township 47,842	1837	Gloucester County	The Atlantic Ocean, which forms the county's eastern border	497.53	279,114	561 sq mi (1,453 km2)
BergenCounty	003	Hackensack	Hackensack 46,030	1683	One of four original counties created in East Jersey	Bergen, New Netherland settlement	4,182.23	978,641	234 sq mi (606 km2)
BurlingtonCounty	005	Mount Holly	Evesham Township 46,826	1694	One of two original counties created in West Jersey	The old ancient name for an inland market near Bridlington, England	590.70	475,515	805 sq mi (2,085 km2)
CamdenCounty	007	Camden	Cherry Hill 74,553	1844	Gloucester County	Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden (1714–1794), an English supporter of the colonists during the American Revolution [17]	2,405.35	533,988	222 sq mi (575 km2)
Cape MayCounty	009	Cape May Court House	Lower Township 22,057	1692	Burlington County	Cape May, named in turn for the 17th-century Dutch explorer Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, who explored and surveyed the Delaware Bay to the south of the county	368.14	93,875	255 sq mi (660 km2)
CumberlandCounty	011	Bridgeton	Vineland 60,780	1748	Salem County	Prince William, Duke of Cumberland (1721–1765), second son of George II of Great Britain and military victor at the Battle of Culloden in 1746	318.36	155,678	489 sq mi (1,267 km2)
EssexCounty	013	Newark	Newark 311,549	1683	One of four original counties created in East Jersey	The county of Essex in England	6,996.25	881,527	126 sq mi (326 km2)
GloucesterCounty	015	Woodbury	Washington Township 48,677	1686	Burlington County	The city of Gloucester, England	959.33	311,783	325 sq mi (842 km2)
HudsonCounty	017	Jersey City	Jersey City 292,449	1840	Bergen County	The English explorer Henry Hudson (d. 1611), who explored portions of New Jersey's coastline	15,663.51	736,185	47 sq mi (122 km2)
HunterdonCounty	019	Flemington	Raritan Township 23,447	1714	Burlington County	Robert Hunter (1664–1734), the Colonial Governor of New Jersey from 1710 to 1720	306.30	131,708	430 sq mi (1,114 km2)
MercerCounty	021	Trenton	Hamilton Township 92,297	1838	Burlington, Hunterdon, Middlesex, and Somerset counties	The Continental Army General Hugh Mercer (1726–1777), who died at the Battle of Princeton [18]	1,735.12	392,138	226 sq mi (585 km2)
MiddlesexCounty	023	New Brunswick	Edison 107,588	1683	One of four original counties created in East Jersey	The historic county of Middlesex in England	2,862.12	890,119	311 sq mi (805 km2)
MonmouthCounty	025	Freehold Borough	Middletown Township 67,106	1683	One of four original counties created in East Jersey	The historic County of Monmouth in Great Britain	1,371.86	647,520	472 sq mi (1,222 km2)
MorrisCounty	027	Morristown	Parsippany-Troy Hills 56,162	1739	Hunterdon County	Colonel Lewis Morris (1671–1746), colonial governor of New Jersey at the time of the county's formation [19] [20]	1,115.25	523,053	469 sq mi (1,215 km2)
OceanCounty	029	Toms River	Lakewood Township 135,158	1850	Monmouth and Burlington counties	The Atlantic Ocean, which forms the eastern border of New Jersey	1,047.85	666,434	636 sq mi (1,647 km2)
PassaicCounty	031	Paterson	Paterson 159,732	1837	Bergen and Essex counties	Pasaeck, a Lenape word meaning "valley"	2,846.47	526,597	185 sq mi (479 km2)
SalemCounty	033	Salem	Pennsville Township 12,684	1694	One of two original counties created in West Jersey	Salem, Biblical town, which takes its name from the Hebrew word for "peace."	194.89	65,874	338 sq mi (875 km2)
SomersetCounty	035	Somerville	Franklin Township 68,364	1688	Middlesex County	The county of Somerset in England	1,172.02	357,467	305 sq mi (790 km2)
SussexCounty	037	Newton	Vernon Township 22,358	1753	Morris County	The county of Sussex in England	283.00	147,444	521 sq mi (1,349 km2)
UnionCounty	039	Elizabeth	Elizabeth 137,298	1857	Essex County	The union of the United States, which was being threatened by the dispute over slavery	5,768.54	594,160	103 sq mi (267 km2)
WarrenCounty	041	Belvidere	Phillipsburg 15,249	1824	Sussex County	The American Revolutionary War General Joseph Warren (1741–1775), killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill	312.94	112,031	358 sq mi (927 km2)

See also

• New Jersey portal

• List of townships in New Jersey
• County courthouses in New Jersey
• List of United States counties and county equivalents
• Metropolitan statistical areas of New Jersey—each New Jersey county is included in a metropolitan statistical area as defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget

References

1. "New Jersey – Place and County Subdivision". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on November 22, 2009. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
2. Coppa, Frank J. (2000). County government: a guide to efficient and accountable government. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp.  39–40. ISBN   978-0-275-96829-8 . Retrieved August 31, 2009.
3. Coppa, County government, p. 165 Archived July 5, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
4. Coppa, County government, p. 108 Archived July 5, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
5. "An Overview of County Government". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on April 17, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
6. "County Formation Map" (PDF). New Jersey Association of Election Officials. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2007. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
7. Torp, Kim (2006). "New Jersey County Formation". Genealogy Trails. Archived from the original on March 17, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
8. Jackman v. Bodine, 43N.J.453 (November 25, 1964).
9. Wright, George Cable (December 16, 1964). "Weighted Voting Voided in Jersey; State's Highest Court Bars Senate's Plan—No Ruling on Its Constitutionality". The New York Times . Archived from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
10. Jackman v. Bodine, 205A. 2d735 (December 15, 1964).
11. "New Jersey State Constitution 1947". November 2020. Art. IV § II and art. XI § V (amended December 8, 1966). Retrieved July 2, 2023.
12. "County FIPS Code Listing for the State of New Jersey". US Environmental Protection Agency. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
13. "NACo – Find a county". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on January 12, 2008. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
14. "Population Density by County and Municipality: New Jersey, 2010 and 2017" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Health. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
15. Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names Archived November 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine , New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed November 14, 2015.
16. "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: New Jersey". Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2025.
17. Greenberg, Gail (August 30, 2009). "A Brief History of Camden County". Camden County Board of Freeholders. Archived from the original on June 23, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
18. "History". Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
19. "The Land Past and Present". Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Archived from the original on August 22, 2009. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
20. "How did our county get its name?". Morris County Library. July 26, 2008. Archived from the original on February 23, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.

Further reading

• "NEW JERSEY COUNTY GOVERNMENT OVERVIEW" (PDF). ce.naco.org. National Association of Counties. 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2025.

External links

• 2010 Census: New Jersey Profile