Morris County, New Jersey

Morris County is a county in New Jersey, United States, about 30 miles west of New York City. It had a population of 509,285 at the 2020 census, an estimated 514,000 by 2024, and covers 481.52 square miles (1,247.1 km2) centred near 40°52′N 74°33′W.

Morristown is the county seat; its postal code is 07960. The county holds 3 towns, 1 city, 16 townships and 19 boroughs across its 39 municipalities, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 34027.

Towns & Villages in Morris County

Morris County has 39 municipalities and no unincorporated territory — every acre sits inside one town, township, borough or city, a legacy of New Jersey’s home-rule system. The table below lists all 39, with type, 2020 census population and ZIP code.

*Dover is the county’s only city; Morristown is the county seat. Three name pairs trip up newcomers: Chatham Borough (9,212) is a walkable train-line downtown, while the larger, leafier Chatham Township (10,983) surrounds it on three sides. Boonton, the town (8,815), sits on the Rockaway River gorge and is a separate municipality from the more rural Boonton Township (4,380) to its west. Mendham Borough (5,288) is the compact historic village center; Mendham Township (12,441) is the larger surrounding township. Rockaway Borough (6,326) is the small downtown near Route 80; Rockaway Township (24,625), the county’s largest municipality by land area, wraps around it and includes Rockaway Townsquare mall and Split Rock Reservoir.

ZIP Codes

• 07960 — Morristown (also serves Morris Township and Harding)
• 07054 — Parsippany (Parsippany-Troy Hills)
• 07834 — Denville
• 07801 — Dover (also serves Victory Gardens)
• 07869 — Randolph
• 07866 — Rockaway (serves both Rockaway Borough and Rockaway Township)
• 07940 — Madison
• 07932 — Florham Park
• 07045 — Montville
• 07876 — Succasunna, serving Roxbury Township
• 07828 — Flanders, serving Mount Olive Township
• 07438 — Oak Ridge, serving part of Jefferson Township
• 07005 — Boonton (also serves Boonton Township)
• 07946 — Green Village, an unincorporated section of Chatham Township with its own ZIP

Several unincorporated village centers — Convent Station, Whippany, Mount Freedom and Ironia — carry their own ZIP codes even though they have no separate municipal government, since New Jersey ZIPs follow historic post office names rather than township lines.

Geography

Morris County sits in the New Jersey Highlands and Piedmont, split roughly in half: the rugged, forested Highlands cover the north and west, while the lower, more developed Piedmont runs through the southeast around Parsippany and Morristown. Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey’s largest lake, straddles the county’s western edge with Roxbury and Mount Arlington on its Morris County shore. The Passaic, Rockaway and Whippany rivers drain the county, and the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge covers more than 7,600 acres in Harding and Chatham townships.

Morris County borders Sussex County to the north, Passaic County to the northeast, Essex County to the east, Union County to the southeast, Somerset County to the south, Hunterdon County to the southwest and Warren County to the west.

Demographics

Morris County counted 509,285 residents at the 2020 census, up from 491,845 in 2010, and the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2024 estimate puts the county near 514,000. Parsippany-Troy Hills is the largest municipality (56,162), followed by Morris Township (22,865) and Randolph (27,253). Median household income was $117,298 as of 2020, well above New Jersey’s statewide figure of roughly $89,300, and 2021 per-capita personal income of $61,915 was the highest of any New Jersey county. Population density runs about 1,105 people per square mile, concentrated along the Route 10 and Route 80 corridors and thinning out sharply toward the Highlands townships in the northwest.

Economy & Local Life

Corporate offices and pharmaceutical research anchor the county’s economy, particularly along the Route 24 and Route 10 corridors near Florham Park, Madison and Parsippany, historically home to major pharmaceutical and telecom employers. Morristown Medical Center, part of Atlantic Health System, is one of the county’s largest employers and a regional trauma center. County College of Morris in Randolph and Drew University and Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Florham campus in Madison anchor higher education. Retail and logistics cluster around Route 10 in East Hanover and Rockaway Townsquare mall in Rockaway Township. The Morristown Green hosts the county’s largest annual gathering, the Morristown Festival on the Green, each September.

History

Morris County was created on March 15, 1739, carved out of Hunterdon County and named for Lewis Morris, the colony’s royal governor at the time. Its iron forges supplied the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and its central, defensible location made it George Washington’s preferred winter base. The Continental Army wintered at Morristown twice: first in January-May 1777 after the battles of Trenton and Princeton, headquartered at Jacob Arnold’s Tavern, and again from December 1779 to June 1780 at Jockey Hollow, the war’s harshest winter encampment, with Washington’s headquarters at the Ford Mansion. Morristown National Historical Park, established in 1933, preserves both sites and was the first National Historical Park designated in the United States. The county’s 19th-century iron and canal industries around Dover and Wharton later gave way to the suburban, corporate-office economy that defines it today.

Getting There

Interstate 80 crosses the county’s northern half through Rockaway, Denville and Parsippany; Interstate 287 runs north-south through the eastern side near Morristown and Mount Olive. Route 10, Route 24 and Route 46 carry most local traffic.

• New York City — 30 miles east
• Newark — 20 miles east
• Trenton — 40 miles south
• Newton (Sussex County seat) — 20 miles north

Morristown Municipal Airport in Hanover Township handles general aviation and business jets. NJ Transit’s Morristown Line and Gladstone Branch serve Morristown, Madison, Denville, Dover and other stations with direct trains to New York Penn Station and Hoboken.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Morris County, New Jersey?
Morris County sits in north-central New Jersey, about 30 miles west of New York City, bordered by Sussex, Passaic, Essex, Union, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties.

What is the population of Morris County?
Morris County had a population of 509,285 at the 2020 census, the state’s tenth-most populous county.

How big is Morris County?
Morris County covers 481.52 square miles (1,247.1 km2), with 460.97 square miles of land.

What is the county seat of Morris County?
Morristown is the county seat, and the site of George Washington’s Continental Army winter encampments in 1777 and 1779-80.

How many towns are in Morris County?
Morris County has 39 municipalities: 1 city (Dover), 3 towns, 16 townships and 19 boroughs, with no unincorporated territory.

What ZIP codes are in Morris County?
Morris County’s ZIP codes include 07960 (Morristown), 07054 (Parsippany), 07834 (Denville), 07801 (Dover) and 07866 (Rockaway), among others covering all 39 municipalities.

What is the difference between Chatham Borough and Chatham Township?
Chatham Borough is the small, walkable downtown along the rail line; Chatham Township is the larger, more residential municipality that surrounds it on three sides. They are separate governments with separate school systems below the high-school level.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in New Jersey.