List of counties in New Jersey

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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 positions. 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

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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

File:NJ Counties by Population (2020 census).png
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
 

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See also

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. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "County Formation Map" (PDF). New Jersey Association of Election Officials. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2007. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 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, 43 N.J. 453 (November 25, 1964).
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 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, 205 A. 2d 735 (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. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "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. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "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 April 2, 2026.

Further reading

Template:U.S. Counties Template:New Jersey

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