Cumberland County is a county in New Jersey, United States, fronting Delaware Bay in the state’s southern reaches. It had a population of 154,152 at the 2020 census and covers 677.85 square miles (1,755.6 km2), centred near 39°20′N 75°08′W.
Bridgeton is the county seat, and its postal code is 08302. The county is made up of three cities, one borough and ten townships, plus dozens of unincorporated communities and census-designated places along the Delaware Bay shoreline and the Maurice and Cohansey rivers. It sits in the Eastern time zone, and its FIPS code is 34011.
Towns & Villages in Cumberland County
Cumberland County has 14 incorporated municipalities — three cities (Bridgeton, Millville, Vineland), one borough (Shiloh) and ten townships — each of which is itself a governing municipality. Dozens more places are unincorporated communities or census-designated places (CDPs) sitting inside a township rather than governed on their own. The table below carries the parent township for each of those; a dash means the row is a municipality in its own right.
| Place | Type | Township | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgeton | City · seat | — | 27,263 | 08302 |
| Millville | City | — | 27,491 | 08332 |
| Vineland | City | — | 60,780 | 08360 |
| Shiloh | Borough | — | 444 | 08353 |
| Commercial Township | Township | — | 4,669 | — |
| Deerfield Township | Township | — | 3,136 | — |
| Downe Township | Township | — | 1,399 | — |
| Fairfield Township | Township | — | 5,546 | — |
| Greenwich Township | Township | — | 771 | — |
| Hopewell Township | Township | — | 4,391 | — |
| Lawrence Township | Township | — | 3,087 | — |
| Maurice River Township | Township | — | 6,218 | — |
| Stow Creek Township | Township | — | 1,312 | — |
| Upper Deerfield Township | Township | — | 7,645 | — |
| Leesburg | Unincorp. | Maurice River Twp | — | 08327 |
| Port Norris | CDP | Commercial Twp | — | 08349 |
| North Port Norris | Unincorp. | Commercial Twp | — | — |
| Cedarville | CDP | Fairfield Twp | — | 08311 |
| Fairton | CDP | Fairfield Twp | — | 08320 |
| Newport | Unincorp. | Downe Twp | — | 08345 |
| Greenwich | Unincorp. | Greenwich Twp | — | 08323 |
| Delmont | Unincorp. | Fairfield Twp | — | 08314 |
| Heislerville | CDP | Maurice River Twp | — | 08324 |
| Mauricetown | CDP | Commercial Twp | — | 08329 |
| Port Elizabeth | Unincorp. | Maurice River Twp | — | 08348 |
| Dorchester | CDP | Maurice River Twp | — | 08316 |
| Fortescue | Unincorp. | Downe Twp | — | 08321 |
| Rosenhayn | CDP | Deerfield Twp | — | 08352 |
| Dividing Creek | Unincorp. | Downe Twp | — | 08315 |
| Deerfield Street | Unincorp. | Upper Deerfield Twp | — | 08313 |
| Gouldtown | Unincorp. | Fairfield Twp | — | — |
| Seabrook Farms | Unincorp. | Upper Deerfield Twp | — | — |
| Silver Lake | CDP | Upper Deerfield Twp | — | — |
| Laurel Lake | CDP | Upper Deerfield Twp | — | — |
| Bivalve | Unincorp. | Commercial Twp | — | — |
| Shell Pile | Unincorp. | Commercial Twp | — | — |
| Money Island | Unincorp. | Downe Twp | — | — |
| Gandys Beach | Unincorp. | Downe Twp | — | — |
| Roadstown | Unincorp. | Hopewell Twp | — | — |
| Othello | Unincorp. | Greenwich Twp | — | — |
| Jericho | Unincorp. | Stow Creek Twp | — | — |
Two pairs of names are easy to mix up. “Deerfield Township” and “Upper Deerfield Township” are two separate townships that split apart in the early 1900s and still sit side by side. And Port Norris, Bivalve and Shell Pile are three adjoining oyster-shipping hamlets on the Maurice River in Commercial Township, close enough together that mail and maps sometimes fold them into one another.
Townships
| Township | Pop. (2020) | Main settlements |
|---|---|---|
| Upper Deerfield Township | 7,645 | Deerfield Street, Seabrook Farms, Silver Lake, Laurel Lake |
| Maurice River Township | 6,218 | Leesburg, Heislerville, Port Elizabeth, Dorchester |
| Fairfield Township | 5,546 | Cedarville, Fairton, Delmont, Gouldtown |
| Commercial Township | 4,669 | Port Norris, Mauricetown, Bivalve, Shell Pile |
| Hopewell Township | 4,391 | Roadstown |
| Deerfield Township | 3,136 | Rosenhayn |
| Lawrence Township | 3,087 | Buckshutem area |
| Downe Township | 1,399 | Newport, Fortescue, Dividing Creek, Money Island, Gandys Beach |
| Stow Creek Township | 1,312 | Jericho |
| Greenwich Township | 771 | Greenwich, Othello |
ZIP Codes
- 08302 — Bridgeton
- 08332 — Millville
- 08360 / 08361 — Vineland
- 08353 — Shiloh
- 08327 — Leesburg
- 08349 — Port Norris (also serves Bivalve and Shell Pile)
- 08311 — Cedarville
- 08320 — Fairton
- 08345 — Newport
- 08323 — Greenwich
- 08314 — Delmont
- 08324 — Heislerville
- 08329 — Mauricetown
- 08348 — Port Elizabeth
- 08316 — Dorchester
- 08321 — Fortescue
- 08352 — Rosenhayn
- 08315 — Dividing Creek
- 08313 — Deerfield Street
Smaller unincorporated places such as Gouldtown, Seabrook Farms, Roadstown, Othello and Jericho share the ZIP of the larger post office town nearest them rather than carrying their own.
Geography
Cumberland County lies on New Jersey’s inner coastal plain, a flat, sandy landscape that drops into broad tidal salt marsh along Delaware Bay. Water makes up more than a quarter of the county — 194.49 of its 677.85 total square miles — because the bay shoreline is cut by wide, slow-moving tidal creeks. The Maurice River, a federally designated Wild and Scenic River, runs the length of the county’s east side past Millville, Port Elizabeth, Leesburg and Mauricetown before reaching the bay near Bivalve; the Cohansey River drains the west side past Bridgeton and Greenwich.
Cumberland County borders Salem County to the northwest, Gloucester County to the north, Atlantic County to the northeast, and Cape May County to the east. Delaware Bay, with Delaware across it, forms its southern and southwestern edge.
Demographics
Cumberland County’s population was 154,152 at the 2020 census, spread across 483.36 square miles of land for a density of about 319 people per square mile. Vineland, with 60,780 residents, is the county’s largest city by a wide margin; Millville (27,491) and the county seat, Bridgeton (27,263), are close behind. Household income runs well under the state average: recent Census Bureau estimates put the county median near $54,600, far below the New Jersey median of $99,781.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture anchors much of the county outside its three cities — Cumberland ranks among New Jersey’s top counties for vegetable production, and the fields around Upper Deerfield and Fairfield townships still supply regional processors. Seabrook Farms, in Upper Deerfield Township, was a pioneer of commercial frozen-vegetable production in the mid-20th century and drew a wave of immigrant and refugee labor whose descendants remain in the area. Millville and Vineland carry the county’s glassmaking legacy; Millville’s Wheaton Village and its Museum of American Glass trace that history back to the region’s 18th-century glass furnaces. Inspira Health Network runs the county’s main hospital system, and South Woods and Bayside state prisons, both in Maurice River Township, are major public employers.
History
Cumberland County was set off from Salem County on January 19, 1748, and named for Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, the British commander who put down the Jacobite Rising at Culloden two years earlier. Bridgeton, on the Cohansey River, became the county seat and grew into a 19th-century milling and manufacturing town. Gouldtown, in Fairfield Township, traces its founding to the early 1700s and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States established by free Black families, descended from unions dating to the colonial period.
Getting There
Route 55 is the county’s main highway, running north–south through Millville and Vineland before ending near Bridgeton; Routes 49, 77 and 553 connect the smaller bayshore townships. Philadelphia’s commercial airport is the closest major hub.
- Philadelphia, PA — about 45 miles northwest
- Atlantic City — about 30 miles east
- Camden — about 40 miles north
- Cape May — about 35 miles southeast
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Cumberland County, New Jersey?
It sits in the southern part of the state, fronting Delaware Bay, between Salem, Gloucester, Atlantic and Cape May counties.
What is the population of Cumberland County?
154,152 people, per the 2020 census.
How big is Cumberland County?
677.85 square miles (1,755.6 km2) in total, of which about 28% is tidal water.
What is the county seat of Cumberland County?
Bridgeton is the county seat.
How many towns and townships are in Cumberland County?
Fourteen municipalities: three cities, one borough and ten townships, plus dozens of smaller unincorporated communities inside them.
What ZIP codes are in Cumberland County?
Nineteen, led by 08302 (Bridgeton), 08332 (Millville) and 08360/08361 (Vineland); see the full list above.
What is Cumberland County known for?
Its Delaware Bay oyster industry, Maurice River wetlands, and a farming and food-processing economy that grew out of Seabrook Farms’ early frozen-vegetable business.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in New Jersey.