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NJ · 21 counties · capital Trenton · Eastern Time
New Jersey county map
New Jersey has 21 counties, from Atlantic to Warren. Bergen County, across the Hudson from Manhattan, is the most populous; Burlington County, reaching from the Delaware River to the Pine Barrens, is the largest.
How New Jersey’s counties are laid out
New Jersey packs 9,288,994 people (2020) into 21 counties and 8,723 square miles, the most densely populated state in the country. The counties fall into three bands. The north-east — Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Union, Passaic and Middlesex — lies within sight of New York City and holds about half the state’s population in a tenth of its area. A middle belt of suburban and river counties (Morris, Somerset, Mercer, Monmouth, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester) follows the Delaware River and the New York–Philadelphia corridor. The south and north-west — Cape May, Cumberland, Salem, Atlantic, Ocean, Sussex, Warren and Hunterdon — are the Pine Barrens, the shore and the Kittatinny hills, and are far more thinly settled.
The four original counties of 1683 — Bergen, Essex, Middlesex and Monmouth — were created when East Jersey was still a separate proprietary colony; Burlington, Gloucester, Salem and Cape May followed in West Jersey by 1692. Most of the remaining counties were split off during the 18th century (Hunterdon 1714, Morris 1739, Cumberland 1748, Sussex 1753) and the early republic (Warren 1824, Atlantic 1837, Passaic 1837, Mercer 1838, Hudson 1840, Camden 1844, Ocean 1850). Union County, cut from Essex in 1857 after Elizabeth lost a dispute with Newark over the county seat, closed the list.
New Jersey counties are governed by elected boards of county commissioners (called freeholders until 2021) and provide roads, parks, colleges and social services, while the 564 municipalities handle most local business. The whole state is on Eastern Time.
All 21 counties of New Jersey
| County | County seat |
|---|---|
| Atlantic | Mays Landing |
| Bergen | Hackensack |
| Burlington | Mount Holly |
| Camden | Camden |
| Cape May | Cape May Court House |
| Cumberland | Bridgeton |
| Essex | Newark |
| Gloucester | Woodbury |
| Hudson | Jersey City |
| Hunterdon | Flemington |
| Mercer | Trenton |
| Middlesex | New Brunswick |
| Monmouth | Freehold |
| Morris | Morristown |
| Ocean | Toms River |
| Passaic | Paterson |
| Salem | Salem |
| Somerset | Somerville |
| Sussex | Newton |
| Union | Elizabeth |
| Warren | Belvidere |
Five county facts
- Largest by area: Burlington County, seat Mount Holly, about 820 square miles running the full width of the state from the Delaware River opposite Philadelphia to the edge of the Pine Barrens near the Atlantic shore. Ocean County (Toms River) is a close second at about 915 square miles including its bays and ocean waters, but less on land.
- Smallest by area: Hudson County, seat Jersey City, only about 46 square miles of land on the peninsula between the Hudson River and Newark Bay — and with about 725,000 people the most densely populated county outside New York City.
- Most populous: Bergen County, seat Hackensack, with about 955,000 people in 2020, followed by Middlesex (New Brunswick) at about 863,000 and Essex (Newark) at about 863,000. Newark, in Essex County, is the largest city in the state.
- Least populous: Salem County, seat Salem, with about 65,000 people on the Delaware Bay marshes in the south-west corner. Cape May County (about 95,000) and Warren County (about 110,000) are next.
- Oldest and newest: Bergen, Essex, Middlesex and Monmouth counties date from 1683. Union County (1857) is the newest. New Jersey has no independent cities; every municipality lies in exactly one county.
Reading the map
Press Streets and zoom in on the highlighted state to see county lines. The Delaware River forms the whole western border and the edge of Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, Mercer, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties; the Hudson River and New York Harbor bound Bergen and Hudson counties on the east. The 130-mile Atlantic shore runs down Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties, with Cape May County ending in the peninsula between the ocean and Delaware Bay. The Raritan River separates Middlesex and Somerset counties from Monmouth, and the Passaic River winds through Morris, Passaic, Bergen and Essex counties before reaching Newark Bay. The capital Trenton sits in Mercer County at the falls of the Delaware.
Related maps
- New Jersey map — cities, borders and geography.
- Blank New Jersey map and printable New Jersey map.
- Trenton, the state capital, in Mercer County. New York City and Philadelphia lie just across the state lines.
- Neighbouring county maps: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware.
- Middle Atlantic division · the Northeast · Mid-Atlantic region · Eastern Time Zone.
- Geography: Hudson River, Appalachian Mountains, US coastlines.
- All US county maps.