CAMDEN County, NJ

Camden County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, the county's population was 523,485, an increase of 9,828 (1.9%) from the 2010 Census, making it the state's 8th-largest county, Its county seat is Camden. The most populous place was Cherry Hill Township with 74,553 residents at the time of the 2020 Census, while Winslow Township covered , the largest total area of any municipality.

The county was formed on March 13, 1844, from portions of Gloucester County. The county was named for Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, a British judge, civil libertarian, and defender of the American cause. Camden County is part of the Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD / Delaware Valley Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the 2010 Census, the county had a total area of , including of land (97.3%) and of water (2.7%).

Located in a coastal / alluvial plain, the county is uniformly flat and low-lying. The highest points are a survey benchmark near the Burlington County line at above sea level. The low point is sea level, along the Delaware River.

Adjacent counties

The county borders the following counties:

National protected area

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Camden have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although 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 (Cfa). Average monthly temperatures in Chesilhurst range from 33.1 °F in January to 76.4 °F in July. [http://prism.oregonstate.edu/explorer/]

Demographics

Camden County has 37 municipalities of diverse sizes and populations. Nine are less than one square mile in area, and five have fewer than 2,000 residents (excluding Tavistock and Pine Valley which are golf courses with nominal populations). Over half of county residents live in five municipalities having populations over 30,000 (Camden, Cherry Hill, Gloucester Township, Winslow, Pennsauken).

The 2018 ACS estimates show 25 municipalities with poverty rates below the statewide average (10.5%). Nine municipalities had poverty rates higher than the county-wide estimate (12.6%): Camden, Woodlynne, Chesilhurst, Lawnside, Bellmawr, Clementon, Blackwood, Brooklawn, and Lindenwold. Additionally, Cherry Hill and Voorhees are affluent areas with higher-poverty areas including Echelon and Ellisburg.

2020 Census

As of the Census of 2020, the city had 523,485 people, 187,780 households, and 125,806 families. The population density was . There were 212,759 housing units at an average density of . The city's racial makeup was 56.0% White, 19.3% African American, 0.47% Native American, 6.22% Asian, and 8.14% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.2% of the population.

There were 187,780 households, of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.0% were married couples living together, 25.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 9.2% had a male householder with no wife present and 29.4% were non-families. 38.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.30.

About 22.5% of the city's population was under age 18, 8.1% was from age 18 to 24, 38.7% was from age 15 to 44, and 16.1% was age 65 or older. The median age was 38.7 years. The gender makeup of the city was 48.3% male and 51.7% female. For every 100 females, there were 93.4 males.

The city's median household income was $73,672, and the median family income was $88,575. About 10.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.4% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.

2010 Census

Economy

Based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Camden County had a gross domestic product (GDP) of $23.8 billion in 2018, which was ranked 11th in New Jersey and represented an increase of 2.5% from the previous year.

Government

The county is governed by a Board of County Commissioners comprised of seven members chosen at-large in partisan elections for three-year terms on a staggered basis by the residents of the county, with either two or three seats up for election each year as part of the November general election. At a reorganization meeting held in January after each election, the newly constituted Board of Commissioners selects one of its members to serve as Director and another as Deputy Director. In 2016, freeholders were paid $23,000 and the freeholder director was paid an annual salary of $24,000.

, Camden County's Commissioners are:

In March 2019, Melinda Kane was appointed to fill the seat expiring in December 2021 that had been held by Bill Moen, who resigned from office to run for a seat in the New Jersey General Assembly. Kane served on an interim basis until the November 2019 general election, when she was elected to serve the balance of the term of office.

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

The County Prosecutor is Grace C. MacAulay, who was sworn in on January 6, 2022.

Camden County constitutes Vicinage 4 of the New Jersey Superior Court, which is seated at the Camden County Hall of Justice in Camden, with additional facilities at various locations in Cherry Hill. The Assignment Judge for the vicinage is Deborah Silverman Katz. As with most counties in the state, the court system in Camden County also includes municipal courts for each township, borough and city to handle traffic and other minor items.

Law enforcement at the county level, in addition to a sheriff, includes the Camden County Police Department and the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. The Camden Police Department and the Camden County Park Police were absorbed into the newly formed Camden County Police Department in 2013.

Federal representatives

Two federal Congressional Districts cover the county, including portions of the 1st and 2nd Districts.

State representatives

The county is part of the 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th Districts in the New Jersey Legislature.

Politics

Camden County has long been a Democratic stronghold, and almost all of the county is in the 1st congressional district (which has a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of D+13). The county usually votes overwhelmingly Democratic in national, state, and local elections.

As of August 1, 2020, there were a total of 376,429 registered voters in Camden County, of whom 178,834 (47.5%) were registered as Democrats, 57,545 (15.3%) were registered as Republicans and 134,908 (35.8%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 5,142 (1.4%) voters registered to other parties. Among the county's 2010 Census population, 69.1% were registered to vote, including 75.6% of those ages 18 and over.

In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Hillary Clinton carried the country by a 32.4% margin over Donald Trump, while Clinton won New Jersey by 14.1%. In the 2004 U.S. presidential election, John Kerry carried the county by a 25.5% margin over George W. Bush, with Kerry carrying the state by 6.7% over Bush. Barack Obama carried the county by 34.8% over John McCain in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, while Obama won New Jersey by 14.7%.

Municipalities

thumb|right|400px|Index map of Camden County Municipalities (click to see index key)

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Municipalities in Camden County (with 2010 Census data for population, housing units and area) are:

Historical municipalities

Defunct municipalities in the county (with years of formation and dissolution listed in parentheses) include:

Education

Colleges and universities

Rutgers University-Camden is located in the downtown/waterfront district of Camden, and dates back to 1926 with the founding of the South Jersey Law School.

Rutgers School of Law–Camden is one of two campuses of Rutgers Law School, the other being in Newark.

The Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine is located in Stratford and dates to 1976. It is the state's only osteopathic medical school and was South Jersey's first four-year college of medicine.

The Cooper Medical School of Rowan University is located in the downtown/university district of Camden. Established as a four-year medical school in 1975, the relationship with Rowan University was formed in 2008.

Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences has a campus in Stratford which hosts its dental school and school of public health.

Rowan University at Camden is located on Cooper Street in Camden and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Camden County College is a two-year public community college serving students from Camden County. The school has campuses in Blackwood, Camden and Cherry Hill, and was founded in 1967.

Arts and culture

Fine and performing arts

The Ritz Theater in Haddon Township, constructed in 1927 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, hosts theater performances and film festivals.

Symphony in C was established as The Haddonfield Symphony in 1952 and is based on the campus of Rutgers University-Camden.

Perkins Center for the Arts has locations in Moorestown and Collingswood.

The Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood, recognized on the American Institute of Architects's list of "150 Best Buildings and Places" in New Jersey, hosts national music and theater performances.

Literature

Poet Walt Whitman lived in Camden County.

Matthew Quick's novel The Silver Linings Playbook is set in Collingswood and Voorhees, although the screen adaptation is set in Pennsylvania.

Poet Nick Virgilio was born in Camden, NJ and returned to Camden in 1958.

Film

The Last Broadcast was partially filmed in the Pine Barrens.

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle is partially set in Cherry Hill.

Camden was the setting for several scenes in 12 Monkeys.

Transportation

Roads and highways

Camden County hosts numerous county, state, U.S. and Interstates. , the county had a total of of roadways, of which are maintained by the municipality, by Camden County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, by the Delaware River Port Authority, by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and by the South Jersey Transportation Authority.

Major county roads that pass through include County Road 534, County Road 536, County Road 537, County Road 543, County Road 544, County Road 551 and County Road 561.

State routes that pass through are Route 38, Route 41, Route 42 (the North-South Freeway), Route 47 (only in Brooklawn), Route 70, Route 73, Route 90 (the Betsy Ross Bridge), Route 143 (only in Winslow), Route 154 (only in Cherry Hill) and Route 168.

U.S. Routes that traverse are U.S. Route 30 and U.S. Route 130.

The interstates that pass through are Interstate 76 (part of the North-South Freeway and the Walt Whitman Bridge), Interstate 295 and Interstate 676 (part of the North-South Freeway and the Ben Franklin Bridge (which is multiplexed with US 30)).

Other limited access roads that pass through are the Atlantic City Expressway and the New Jersey Turnpike. There are five ACE interchanges that are within the county borders: Exits 44 (at NJ 42), 41 (at Berlin-Cross Keys Road / CR 689), 38 (at Williamstown-New Freedom Road / CR 536 Spur), 33 (connecting to NJ 73) and 31 (at NJ 73). The only turnpike interchange that is in the county is Exit 3 at the border of Runnemede and Bellmawr.

Public transportation

NJ Transit has stations along the Atlantic City Line in Pennsauken, Cherry Hill, Lindenwold and Atco in Waterford Township, connecting Philadelphia to Atlantic City along the former Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines main line.

The River Line is a diesel tram-train light-rail system operated for NJ Transit by the Southern New Jersey Rail Group on a former Pennsylvania Railroad line from Trenton. Most stations in the county are in the Camden, including the Walter Rand Transportation Center, except for the 36th Street, Pennsauken Transit Center and Pennsauken–Route 73 station located in Pennsauken Township.

The PATCO Speedline, owned by the Delaware River Port Authority, runs a rapid transit line across the Ben Franklin Bridge from Philadelphia through Camden to the PRSL main right-of-way between Haddonfield and its eastern terminus in Lindenwold. Suburban station stops include Woodcrest, Westmont and Collingswood.

NJ Transit provides commuter and long-distance bus service from many locations in the county to Philadelphia, with additional service to Atlantic City. Extensive local service is offered within the county, including routes to Camden and area train and light rail stations.

Wineries, breweries, and distilleries