Salem County, New Jersey

Salem County is a county in New Jersey, United States, the state’s westernmost county, bounded on the west by the Delaware River across from New Castle County, Delaware. It had a population of 64,837 at the 2020 census and covers 331.86 square miles (859.5 km2) of land centred near 39°35′N 75°22′W, making it New Jersey’s least-populous county.

Salem is the county seat, and its postal code is 08079. The county has 15 municipalities — a mix of townships, boroughs and one city — and no separately incorporated towns beyond those, though dozens of older unincorporated hamlets and crossroads survive within them. Salem County sits in the Eastern time zone and carries FIPS code 34033.

Towns & Villages in Salem County

All 15 of Salem County’s municipalities are listed below with their 2020 census population. New Jersey has no separate unincorporated “places” the way many states do — every square mile of the county lies inside one of these townships, boroughs, or Salem City itself.

Older gazetteers of the area also carry names for unincorporated villages and crossroads that sit inside these townships rather than standing as separate places — Hancocks Bridge and Canton in Lower Alloways Creek, Sharptown in Pilesgrove, Pedricktown in Oldmans, Deepwater and Fort Elfsborg in Pennsville, and Monroeville, Daretown and Friesburg in the Pittsgrove townships among them. They are not independently incorporated and carry no separate census count.

ZIP Codes

• 08079 — Salem (also serves Elsinboro and Mannington townships)
• 08098 — Woodstown (also serves Pilesgrove Township)
• 08070 — Pennsville
• 08069 — Penns Grove and Carneys Point Township
• 08318 — Elmer (also serves part of Upper Pittsgrove Township)
• 08001 — Alloway
• 08072 — Quinton
• 08038 — Hancocks Bridge, Lower Alloways Creek Township
• 08067 — Pedricktown, Oldmans Township
• 08343 — Monroeville, Pittsgrove Township

Elsinboro, Mannington and Upper Pittsgrove townships have no dedicated post office of their own and are served by the neighboring ZIPs above.

Geography

Salem County is almost uniformly flat coastal plain, part of New Jersey’s Delaware Bayshore region, with minimal relief and extensive tidal marsh along the Delaware River. The river forms the county’s entire western boundary, and Salem, Alloways and Stow creeks are its principal interior waterways, along with Mannington Meadows. The Delaware Memorial Bridge, at Carneys Point Township, carries Interstate 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike across the river to New Castle County, Delaware.

Salem County borders Gloucester County to the northeast and Cumberland County to the southeast, with the Delaware River separating it from New Castle County, Delaware, to the west.

Demographics

Salem County’s 2020 population of 64,837 was down 1.9% from 66,083 in 2010, and it remains New Jersey’s smallest county by population. Pennsville Township, at 12,684 residents, is the largest municipality, followed by Pittsgrove Township at 8,777 and Carneys Point Township at 8,637; Salem City, the seat, has 5,296. Median household income in Salem County runs below the New Jersey median of $99,781, reflecting the county’s rural, agricultural character relative to the state’s northern suburbs. Population density is about 195 people per square mile, among the lowest of any New Jersey county.

Economy & Local Life

Agriculture remains central to Salem County’s economy — it is one of New Jersey’s leading producers of field crops and produce, and the county markets itself as a stretch of New Jersey wine country, with several vineyards concentrated around Alloway and Elmer. The PSEG Nuclear complex in Lower Alloways Creek Township, home to the Salem and Hope Creek generating stations on an island in the Delaware River, is one of the county’s largest employers. Salem County’s historic glassmaking industry, once centered in Salem City and Glassboro-adjacent Pittsgrove, has largely faded but shaped the county’s 19th-century growth.

History

Salem County was formally organized on May 17, 1694, one of New Jersey’s four original counties, and takes its name from the Hebrew word for peace, chosen by the Quaker settlers who founded Salem City — New Jersey’s first permanent English settlement — in 1675 under John Fenwick. The Old Salem County Courthouse, built in 1735, is the second-oldest courthouse in continuous use in the United States. The county’s flat, river-fronting farmland made it an early center of Quaker agriculture and, later, glass manufacturing drawing on local silica sand deposits.

Getting There

Interstate 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike both begin their New Jersey routes at the Delaware Memorial Bridge in Carneys Point Township, giving the county’s northern edge direct highway access to Wilmington and Philadelphia. Route 45 and Route 40 are the main routes into the county’s interior.

• Wilmington, Delaware — 8 miles southwest, across the Delaware Memorial Bridge
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — 20 miles northwest
• Glassboro, New Jersey — 15 miles north
• Vineland, New Jersey — 20 miles southeast

The nearest commercial airport is Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), about 25 miles northwest of Salem.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Salem County?
It is in southwestern New Jersey, bordered on the west by the Delaware River across from New Castle County, Delaware.

What is the population of Salem County?
64,837 at the 2020 census, the smallest of New Jersey’s 21 counties.

How big is Salem County?
331.86 square miles (859.5 km2) of land, plus 40.69 square miles of water.

What is the Salem County seat?
Salem is the county seat.

How many municipalities are in Salem County?
15 — one city (Salem), three boroughs (Elmer, Penns Grove and Woodstown) and eleven townships, together covering the entire county.

What ZIP codes are in Salem County?
Ten ZIP codes serve the county’s post office towns, led by 08079 (Salem), 08098 (Woodstown) and 08070 (Pennsville); see the ZIP Codes section above for the full list.

What is Salem County known for?
Its Quaker founding history, the second-oldest working courthouse in the country, its Delaware Bayshore farmland and wine country, and the PSEG nuclear generating stations at Lower Alloways Creek.

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