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New Jersey Orange & Yellow
drawstring bag
​15.5″ W by 19.5″ H
$30

1737 census of the colony. Image: New Jersey State Archives

Map of Newark circa 1911 created for health study. Image: NewJerseyAlmanac.com

--Total population   

       The population of New Jersey was 8,791,894 people in the 2010 United States Census, ranking it as the eleventh most populous state and representing a 4.5% increase from the 2000 survey. New Jersey has had one of the slowest growth rates in population in recent years, with only a 1.3% increase from 2010 to the estimated  population of 8,908,520 as of July 2018. 

​       As the fourth smallest state in land area (behind only Rhode Island, Delaware and Connecticut), New Jersey has the highest population density of all states with 1,189 residents per square mile. 
*  New Jersey Quick Facts, US Census Bureau 

---

 
​--Race
       
        The state's population was 68% white, 13.7% black, 18% Hispanic of any race and 10% Asian/other, according to the 2010 Census. Asians were the fastest growing group, making up 8% of the state's total population compared to 5% in 2000. About 240,000 people, or 2%, identified themselves as multiracial in the census. The younger population of the state is also increasingly comprised of minorities. Just over half the number of 18 to 34 year-olds identified themselves as a race other than white in the last census, the highest proportion of all states and more than twice the level of 22% reported in 1980. Essex, Union and Camden counties had about 45% of the state’s African American population in the 2010 Census.
*  New Jersey QuickFacts, US Census Bureau


--Foreign immigration and national origins
      
          Over the more recent decades, New Jersey has depended on foreign immigration to avoid a net decline in population. Between 2013 and 2014, 55,000 residents left for other states,  a loss nearly offset by the 51,000 people who moved to New Jersey from foreign countries. The Census Bureau  estimated that 22.6% of the state's population was foreign-born in the 2013-2014 period, the third highest percentage of all states behind only California and New York and substantially above the national rate of 13.6%. It is estimated that there were about 550,000 illegal immigrants making up about 6.4% of the population s of 2010, which is the fourth highest percentage of any state.   

       The primary sources of foreign immigration to New Jersey have increasingly been shifting from Europe to Latin America and Asia, but the five largest ethnic groups in 2000 continued to reflect the historical pattern, with the largest groups comprised of Italian (17.9%), Irish (15.9%), African (13.6%), German (12.6%) and Polish (6.9%). Just under 32% of New Jersey residents speak a language other than English at home. The Spanish language, with 14.59% of households speaking it as their primary language at home, is by far the most frequent language spoken other than English, with Chinese (1.23%), Italian (1.06%) and Portuguese (1.06%) the only other languages exceeding one percent.

       Between 1990 and 2010, as the number of immigrants to the US doubled (from just under 19 million to almost 40 million), New Jersey experienced a proportionate change from 967,000 people in 1990 to over 1.8 million in 2013.

        As a percentage of population in 2010, New Jersey was the third highest state in the percentage of Asians with 8.3%,  behind only Hawaii (38.6%) and California (13.3%), and the highest of all states in the percentage of Asian Indians with 3.32%. Bergen County is home to all of the nation's top ten municipalities by percentage of Korean population, led by Palisades Park, where Koreans comprise the majority (52%) of the population. The state also had the largest population of Peruvian Americans of all states; the largest population of Cuban Americans outside of Florida; and the third highest Italian American population by percentage, according to the 2000 Census. 
      
       According to data from the National Science Foundation, immigrants comprise 48% of state residents with master’s degrees and 41% of those with doctorates in scientific fields.

       New Jersey attitudes toward immigrants appear to be more positive than the nation as a whole. A survey in 2014 reported that 61% responded that immigrants strengthened the country because of their hard work and talents compared to 55% nationally; similarly, 29% of New Jerseyans responded that immigrants burdened the country because they took jobs, housing and healthcare compared to 36% who so responded for the US as a nation. New Jersey had the same percentage as the US with 60% of respondents who believed that the best option for dealing with illegal immigrants was to provide a way for them to become citizens; 15% of New Jerseyans responded that illegals should be identified and deported compared to 19% in all states.
*  State Immigration Data Profiles, Migration Policy Institute
​

--State-to-state migration
      
       In 2018, twice as many people moved out of New Jersey as moved in, the largest out-migration of any state, according to the United Van Lines 42nd annual National Movers Study. The net loss dropped the state's population to pre-2013 levels. Of those leaving, about 70% cited retirement or employment as the explanation for relocating. New Jersey, Connecticut and New York all saw over 61% of their total movers leave the state. Western states Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and Arizona had their inbound moves top 60%, with South Carolina and North Carolina both above 57%.
*  Annual National Movers Study, United Van Lines
*  Statistics of Income, Migration Data 2011-2012, Internal Revenue Service

--Age
        
       The median age of New Jersey's population in the 2010 Census was 39 years, the 41st oldest of the states behind Utah, the youngest at 29.7 years, and ahead of Maine, the oldest at 42.7 years. The state had an estimated 14.7% of its population 65 years or older as of 2014 compared to the national average of 14.5% according to the Census Bureau. Some 40% of the state's 18 to 34 year-olds live with their parents, a proportion well above the national average of 30%.
*  New Jersey Population, US Census Bureau

--Counties
     
       Bergen County had the largest population in the state as reported in the 2010 Census with 905,116 residents and Salem was the least populated with 66,083 residents. Gloucester had the highest rate of population growth from 2000 to 2010 with a 13.2% increase, nearly three times the 4.5% rate of growth recorded for the state as a whole. Nine other New Jersey counties grew faster than the state during the 2000-2010 period: Ocean (12.8%), Somerset (8.7%), Atlantic (8.7%), Middlesex (8.0%), Cumberland (7.1%), Warren (6.1%), Burlington (6.0%), Hunterdon (5.2%) and Morris (4.7%). The only counties to experience a population decline in the last decade were Cape May (-5,061). and Essex (-9,664).
*  New Jersey QuickFacts, US Census Bureau

--Cities
 
       Only four cities in New Jersey have  a population over 100,000 people. Newark is the state’s largest city, with a population of 278,154 (based on the 2010 census), closely followed by Jersey City, home to 247,597 people; Paterson (146,199); and Elizabeth (124,969). On the basis of estimates of 2014 population, Newark is the 69th largest of all US cities; in the 1940 US Census, the city's population of 429,760 made it the 18th largest in the nation.

-- Religion
       . 
       New Jersey's religious composition was 67% Christian; 14% non-Christian; and 18% unaffiliated (atheist; agnostic; nothing or don't know), according to the 2014 Religious Landscape Study of the Pew Research Center. Overall, about 60% of the state's population in the survey expressed that they were "absolutely certain": in their belief in God and about 10% indicated they had no belief or were uncertain.

         Among Christians, 34% are Catholic and the overall the state has the highest proportion of Catholics at 38%, second only to Rhode Island's 44%, according to the American Values Atlas.  The New Jersey Jewish population of 545,450 is about 6.1% of its 2017 estimated population (second highest after the 8.9% of New York state). It has the second largest percentage of Muslims in its population of 2%  (after Michigan). With 109 mosques in 2011, it tied with Illinois for the fifth highest number of all states, behind first-ranking New York with 257. The city of Paterson was estimated to have 25,000 to 30,000 Muslims as of 2011.
*  Religious Landscape Study, Pew Research Center
*  US Religion Census, Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies
*  Jewish Virtual Library

-- Marriage and divorce

       Some 53% of males and 48% of females aged 15 and older in New Jersey were married compared to, respectively, 52% and 48% nationally, according to a survey for 2007-2008 taken by the US Census Bureau. The median age at first marriage in New Jersey was 30 years old for men--tied for highest of all states--and 28 years for women, compared to the US average of 28 years for men and 26 for women. Those currently divorced at the time of the 2007-2008 survey comprised 7% of men and 10% of women compared to 9% and 12%, respectively, for all states.
*  Marriage and Divorce, National Center for Health Statistics/Centers for Disease Control
*  The States of Marriage and Divorce, Pew Research Center

--Projections

       Population growth is projected to average 0.6% annually from 2014 to 2025, compared to 0.8% for the nation as a whole, with the state's share of total US population expected to fall from 2.8% in 2014 to 2.6% in 2045. By 2045, the state's total population is projected to be just over 10 million residents.

       The population is expected to include more seniors, Hispanics and Asians by 2020. The smallest racial groups in the state, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders and Multiracial populations, are projected to increase substantially, growing by 167% between 2010 and 2030. By 2025, it is projected that non-Hispanic whites will no longer be a majority of New Jersey's population, accounting for just 49.4% of the total population by then.
​*  Population Projections, US Census Bureau

*  Statistics of Income, Migration Data 2011-2012, Internal Revenue Service

[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]

​-- Quality of life

       In February 2019, the Monmouth University Polling Institute released its periodic survey of how New Jerseyans rate the state as a place to live. Only half of New Jersey residents said the state is either an excellent (11%) or good (39%) place to call home, while 32% describing it is only fair and 17% as poor. The current positive rating of 50% has dropped from the 54% result in the previous year’s Monmouth poll, marking an all-time low for this benchmark in New Jersey opinion polls going back to 1980.  Over the past decade, this rating has generally been in the mid-60s.  Prior to that, positive rating of the state was frequently in the 70s, even reaching as high as 84% in 1987.
​*  Monmouth University Polling Institute