Gloucester County, New Jersey

Gloucester County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's 14th-most populous county with a population of 302,294, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 14,006 from the 288,288 counted in the 2010 census, which in turn represented an increase of 33,615 from the 2000 census population of 254,673. The United States Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program estimated a 2024 population of 311,783, an increase of 9,489 from the 2020 decennial census. Its county seat is Woodbury. The county is part of the South Jersey region of the state.
The county's largest municipality by population in 2020 was Washington Township, with a population of 48,677, while the largest municipality by area was Franklin Township, which covered.
The county is part of the Camden, New Jersey metropolitan division of both the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metropolitan statistical area, and the Delaware Valley combined statistical area.
Gloucester County borders Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-most populous city, to its northwest across the Delaware River. Atlantic City is to the county's southeast. Gloucester County and adjacent Salem County, also in South Jersey, have become an East Coast epicenter for logistics and warehouse construction.

WWW co.gloucester.nj.us R/ gloucestercounty

History

Woodbury, the county seat, was founded in 1683 and is the county's oldest municipality. National Park in Gloucester County was the site of the American Revolutionary War's Battle of Red Bank, where Fort Mercer once stood. It is now the site of Red Bank Battlefield Park in National Park. The remains of the Royal Navy's were laid in Red Bank Battlefield Park until they were later moved to Gloucester City.
During the colonial era, Gloucester County's main industry sector was agriculture. Woodbury was the site of the county courthouse, the county jail, a Quaker meeting house that is still in existence, and an inn located on the current location of Woodbury Crossings. Due in part to the county's many creeks that lead to the Delaware River and Atlantic Ocean, smuggling was once common in the county.

Etymology

The county is named after the city of Gloucester and county of Gloucestershire in England.

Geography and climate

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of the 2020 census, the county had a total area of, of which was land and was water. Gloucester County is largely comprised of low-lying rivers and coastal plains, stretching southeastward from the Delaware River to the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The highest elevation in the county is a slight rise on County Road 654 southeast of Monroe Township that rises to approximately above sea level. The county's lowest elevation is at sea level on the Delaware River.

Climate and weather

Average temperatures in the county seat of Woodbury have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July. A record low of was recorded in February 1934 and a record high of was recorded in August 1918. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in July. The county has a humid subtropical climate. Average monthly temperatures in Newfield range from 33.0 °F in January to 76.6 °F in July.

Demographics

Swedesboro and Bridgeport were among the earliest European settlements in New Jersey and were both part of the 17th century New Sweden colony. Gloucester County dates back to May 26, 1686, when courts were established separate from those in Burlington County. On May 17, 1694, the county was officially formed and its boundaries defined as part of West Jersey. Portions of Gloucester County were set off on February 7, 1837, to create Atlantic County. On March 13, 1844, its boundaries were again defined as part of the creation of neighboring Camden County. The county was named for the city of Gloucester and the county of Gloucestershire in the United Kingdom.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 302,294, representing an increase of 14,006 from the 288,288 residents enumerated in the 2010 census. The median age was 40.1 years, 21.5% of residents were under the age of 18, and 16.5% were 65 years of age or older, while for every 100 females there were 94.7 males and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.9 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 76.2% White, 10.9% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 3.2% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.7% from some other race, and 6.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 7.3% of the population.
88.7% of residents lived in urban areas, while 11.3% lived in rural areas.
There were 110,471 households in the county, of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 51.9% were married-couple households, 15.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 117,208 housing units, of which 5.7% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 77.3% were owner-occupied and 22.7% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.5%.

Racial and ethnic composition

Race / Ethnicity	Pop 1980	Pop 1990	Pop 2000	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 1980	% 1990	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone	178,858	202,989	218,262	233,695	225,355	89.47%	88.22%	85.70%	81.06%	74.55%
Black or African American alone	16,769	19,591	22,562	27,906	31,517	8.39%	8.51%	8.86%	9.68%	10.43%
Native American or Alaska Native alone	303	424	426	361	331	0.15%	0.18%	0.17%	0.13%	0.11%
Asian alone	1,052	2,798	3,763	7,534	9,475	0.53%	1.22%	1.48%	2.61%	3.13%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone	x	x	60	62	74	x	x	0.02%	0.02%	0.02%
Other race alone	528	149	221	310	1,103	0.26%	0.06%	0.09%	0.11%	0.36%
Mixed race or Multiracial	x	x	2,796	4,708	12,304	x	x	1.10%	1.63%	4.07%
Hispanic or Latino	2,407	4,131	6,583	13,712	22,135	1.20%	1.80%	2.58%	4.76%	7.32%
Total	199,917	230,082	254,673	288,288	302,294	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 288,288 people, 104,271 households, and 75,805 families in the county. The population density was. There were 109,796 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup was 83.56% White, 10.06% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 2.64% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.41% from other races, and 2.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.76% of the population.
Of the 104,271 households, 33.4% had children under the age of 18; 55.6% were married couples living together; 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present and 27.3% were non-families. Of all households, 22% were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.2.
24.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.7 years. For every 100 females, the population had 94.4 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 91.1 males.

Economy

The Bureau of Economic Analysis calculated that the county's gross domestic product was $14.0 billion in 2021, which was ranked 14th in the state and was a 2.8% increase from the prior year.

Education

Colleges and universities

Rowan University in Glassboro is a public university that was founded in 1923 on a site donated by the borough.
Rowan College of South Jersey is the county college for Gloucester County. It was established in 1966 as Gloucester County College and opened to students two years later in 1968. Its main campus is in Sewell in Gloucester County; it also operates two satellite campuses in Vineland and Millville, both in Cumberland County.

School districts

School districts in Gloucester County include:
;K-12:

;Secondary

; Elementary

Vocational school

Gloucester County has a vocational school, the Gloucester County Institute of Technology, a four-year vocational-technical high school in Deptford Township that serves students from across the county and is part of the Gloucester County Vocational-Technical School District, located in Sewell.

Municipalities

Gloucester County's 24 municipalities along with population, housing units and area from the 2010 U.S. census include:

Municipality	Map key	Municipal type	Pop.	Housing Units	Total Area	Water Area	Land Area	Pop. Density	Housing Density	School District	Communities
Clayton	2	borough	8,807	3,128	7.33	0.19	7.14	1,145.5	438.1	Clayton
Deptford	20	township	31,977	12,361	17.61	0.25	17.36	1,760.3	712.0	Deptford	Almonesson Good Intent Oak Valley CDP
East Greenwich Township	15	township	11,706	3,405	14.92	0.48	14.44	661.7	235.8	Kingsway East Greenwich	Mickleton CDP Mount Royal CDP Wolfert
Elk Township	24	township	4,424	1,576	19.69	0.19	19.49	216.3	80.8	Delsea Elk Township
Franklin Township	23	township	16,380	6,104	56.47	0.56	55.91	300.9	109.2	Delsea Franklin Township	Franklinville CDP Malaga CDP
Glassboro	3	borough	23,149	6,590	9.22	0.04	9.18	2,022.9	717.5	Glassboro
Greenwich Township	13	township	4,917	2,048	12.03	3.06	8.97	546.2	228.3	Paulsboro Greenwich Township	Billingsport Gibbstown CDP
Harrison Township	18	township	13,641	4,089	19.23	0.09	19.14	648.7	213.6	Clearview Harrison Township	Ewan Mullica Hill CDP Richwood CDP
Logan Township	12	township	6,000	2,172	26.93	5.00	21.93	275.6	99.1	Kingsway Logan	Beckett CDP Bridgeport CDP Repaupo
Mantua Township	19	township	15,235	5,980	15.92	0.07	15.85	960.1	377.3	Clearview Mantua Township	Richwood CDP Sewell CDP
Monroe Township	22	township	37,117	13,387	46.93	0.53	46.39	778.8	288.6	Monroe Township	Victory Lakes CDP Williamstown CDP
National Park	9	borough	3,026	1,153	1.45	0.45	1.00	3,023.2	1,148.1	Gateway National Park
Newfield	1	borough	1,774	626	1.71	0.00	1.70	912.0	367.6	Delsea Franklin Township
Paulsboro	10	borough	6,196	2,533	2.60	0.71	1.90	3,216.4	1,336.2	Paulsboro
Pitman	4	borough	8,780	3,705	2.31	0.04	2.27	3,976.1	1,634.8	Pitman
[South Harrison Township, New Jersey\|Harrison Township, New Jersey\|South Harrison Township]	17	township	3,395	1,056	15.73	0.05	15.68	201.7	67.4	Kingsway South Harrison	Harrisonville CDP
Swedesboro	11	borough	2,711	1,004	0.76	0.03	0.72	3,568.4	1,386.5	Kingsway Swedesboro-Woolwich
Washington Township	21	township	48,677	17,810	21.60	0.22	21.38	2,271.0	833.0	Washington Township	Grenloch Hurffville Turnersville CDP Sewell CDP
Wenonah	5	borough	2,283	860	0.98	0.01	0.97	2,342.8	884.4	Gateway Wenonah
[West Deptford Township, New Jersey\|Deptford Township, New Jersey\|West Deptford]	14	township	22,197	9,441	17.87	2.45	15.41	1,406.6	612.6	West Deptford	Colonial Manor Thorofare CDP
Westville	8	borough	4,264	1,912	1.38	0.35	1.02	4,187.0	1,867.0	Gateway Westville
Woodbury	7	city	9,963	4,456	2.06	0.05	2.01	5,064.0	2,217.9	Woodbury
Woodbury Heights	6	borough	3,098	1,125	1.23	0.01	1.22	2,499.4	920.4	Gateway Woodbury Heights
Woolwich Township	16	township	12,577	3,275	21.23	0.32	20.91	487.8	156.6	Kingsway Swedesboro-Woolwich
Gloucester County		county	302,294	109,796	337.18	15.17	322.01	895.3	341.0

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the county had of roadways, of which is maintained by the local municipality, by Gloucester County, by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, by the Delaware River Port Authority, by the South Jersey Transportation Authority, and by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
Various county, state, U.S. routes, and interstates pass through the county. Major county highways include County Route 534, County Route 536, County Route 538, County Route 544, County Route 551, County Route 553, County Route 555, and County Route 557.
State Routes include Route 41, Route 42, which is part of the North-South Freeway, Route 45, Route 47, Route 55, Route 77, and Route 168. Route 324 is located in Logan Township in the county. The three U.S. routes that traverse the county include: U.S. Route 130 in the northwest, U.S. Route 322 near the county's center, and U.S. Route 40 at the county's southern tip.
The Commodore Barry Bridge crosses the Delaware River, carrying U.S. Route 322 between Chester, Pennsylvania and Logan Township in the county.
Interstate 295 is an interstate that runs through the county's northwest for about. The New Jersey Turnpike passes through the county in the northwest and interchanges at Exit 2 in Woolwich Township in the county. The Atlantic City Expressway briefly passes through the county in Washington Township before ending at an interchange with Route 42.

Public transportation

NJ Transit bus service between the county and Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal in Center City Philadelphia is available on the 313 and 315 routes. Additional public transportation in the county includes the 400, 401, 402, 403, 408, 410, and 412 routes, and local service is available on the 455 and 463 routes.
The Glassboro–Camden Line, a proposed diesel multiple unit light rail system to connect with the River Line and PATCO Speedline in Camden, was initially anticipated to be in operation by 2019. However, a lack of an official sponsor and funding source have to date delayed the project.

Freight rail

Gloucester County is located in Conrail's South Jersey/Philadelphia Shared Assets Area, freight rail in the county travels along Penns Grove Secondary, the Salem Branch, and the Vineland Secondary. SMS Rail Lines handles interchanges with CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway.

Port

The Port of Paulsboro is located on the Delaware River and Mantua Creek in and around Paulsboro in the county. Traditionally one of the nation's busiest ports for marine transfer operations of petroleum products, the port is undergoing redevelopment as an adaptable omni port able to handle bulk, breakbulk cargo, and shipping containers. Studies completed in 2012 concluded that the port is well suited to become a center for the manufacture, assembly, and transport of wind turbines and platforms involved in wind power development.

Government

County government

Gloucester County is governed by a Board of County Commissioners and includes seven members who are elected at-large to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis in partisan elections, with either two or three seats coming up for election each November. At a reorganization meeting held each January, the Board selects a director and a deputy director from among the members. In 2017, commissioners, then called freeholders, were paid $16,908 annually and the director was paid $17,908., Gloucester County's Commissioners are :

Commissioner	Party, Residence, Term
Director Frank J. DiMarco	D, Deptford Township, 2025
Deputy Director Jim Jefferson	D, Woodbury 2026
Nicholas DeSilvio	R, Franklin Township, 2027
Denice DiCarlo	D, West Deptford Township 2025
Joann Gattinelli	D, Washington Township, 2026
Christopher Konawel Jr.	R, Glassboro, 2027
Matt Weng	D, Pitman, 2026

Pursuant to Article VII Section II of the Constitution of New Jersey, each county in New Jersey is required to have three elected administrative officials known as constitutional officers. These officials are the County Clerk and County Surrogate, both elected for five-year terms of office, and the County Sheriff, who is elected for a three-year term. Gloucester County's constitutional officers are:

Title	Representative
County Clerk	James N. Hogan,
Sheriff	Carmel Morina
Surrogate	Giuseppe "Joe" Chila.

Gloucester County's prosecutor, appointed in March 2020, is Christine A. Hoffman. Along with Cumberland and Salem counties, Gloucester County is part of Vicinage 15 of the New Jersey Superior Court, which is based in Woodbury in Gloucester County; the assignment judge for the vicinage is Benjamin C. Telsey. Gloucester County Courthouse is located in Woodbury.

Federal representatives

Gloucester County is part of the 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts.

State representatives

The 24 municipalities of Gloucester County are part of three legislative districts.

District	Senator	Assembly	Municipalities
3rd	John Burzichelli	Heather Simmons Dave Bailey	Clayton, East Greenwich Township, Elk Township, Glassboro, Greenwich Township, Harrison, Logan Township, Mantua, National Park, Newfield, Paulsboro, Pitman, South Harrison Township, Swedesboro, Wenonah, West Deptford Township, Westville, and Woolwich Township. The remainder of this district includes portions of Cumberland County and all of Salem County.
4th	Paul D. Moriarty	Dan Hutchinson Cody Miller	Franklin Township, Monroe Township, and Washington Township. The remainder of this district covers portions of Camden County and Atlantic County.
5th	Nilsa Cruz-Perez	William Spearman Bill Moen	Deptford Township, Woodbury, and Woodbury Heights. The remainder of this district includes portions of Camden County

Politics

The county has tended to be a bellwether, as it has voted for the national winner all but four times since 1936. In 2016, Donald Trump became the first Republican to win Gloucester County since 1988, when George H. W. Bush won it and New Jersey's electoral votes as well, the last time a Republican has done so. In 2020, the county voted for Democrat Joe Biden, but in 2024 it voted for Trump again, this time giving him a full majority of over 50%. As of October 2021, there were a total of 230,545 registered voters in Gloucester County. Of these, 89,073 were registered as Democrats, 57,779 were registered as Republicans and 80,776 were registered as unaffiliated. There were 2,917 voters registered to other parties.

Emergency services

Gloucester County is served by the Gloucester County Emergency Medical Services, the first county-based EMS agency in New Jersey, which provides emergency services to the municipalities of Clayton, Deptford Township, East Greenwich Township, Elk Township, Franklin Township, Glassboro, Greenwich Township, Harrison Township, Logan Township, Mantua Township, Monroe Township, National Park, Newfield, Paulsboro, Pitman, South Harrison Township, Swedesboro, Wenonah, West Deptford Township, Westville, Woolwich Township, Woodbury, and Woodbury Heights.
GCEMS was launched in September 2007 with the goal of providing emergency medical services to county residents within nine minutes from the time of dispatch 90 percent of the time, which is considered to be the gold standard in EMS services. The program currently has 56 ambulances in service around the clock and four power shift ambulances on duty from 8am to 8pm seven days a week. GCEMS operates three Quick Response Vehicles units that based in West Deptford Township, Newfield, and South Harrison Township. The department operates from 19 stations throughout the county. GCEMS administrative offices are located at the county's Emergency Response Center in Clayton. It was the winner of the 2010 Outstanding Public EMS Agency by the State of New Jersey.
Gloucester County's special weapons and tactics unit includes police officers from Gloucester County and provides emergency services for SWAT-oriented scenarios, including barricaded and suicidal subjects, hostage rescues, high-risk warrant service, dignitary protection, and counterterrorism responses.

Heroin overdoses

In 2014, heroin overdose rate in Gloucester County was 17.3 deaths per 100,000 people, the fourth-highest rate in New Jersey and nearly seven times the national average.

Notable people

Corey Clement, former professional football player, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, and Philadelphia Eagles
Danielson, American Indie pop band
Linda Fiorentino, actress
Grace Helbig, comedian, actress, author, talk show host, and YouTube personality
Michael Johns, health care executive, former White House presidential speechwriter, conservative policy analyst and writer
Tara Lipinski, Olympic gold medal winner, figure skating
Bryant McKinnie, former professional football player, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, and Minnesota Vikings
J. Hampton Moore, former mayor of Philadelphia.
Milt Plum, former professional football player, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams, and New York Giants
Jimmy Rollins, former professional baseball player, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Philadelphia Phillies
Stephen Mallozzi, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver for Reaume Brothers Racing
Patti Smith, punk rock musician
Steve Squyres, former professor, Cornell University, and principal investigator of the Mars Exploration Rover mission
Charles C. Stratton, New Jersey governor and former Member of Congress

Recreation

Gloucester County Historical Society

The Gloucester County Historical Society, founded in 1903, maintains a collection of materials and artifacts related to the history of South Jersey. Hunter–Lawrence–Jessup House in Woodbury displays many of these artifacts.

National protected area

Great Egg Harbor River