Government Dominates South Jersey Job Options

South Jersey towns have more teachers, police and other government employees as a percent of the total working population than municipalities in the north of the state. In towns like Woodbine, more than one third of the working residents has a local, state or federal government job. There are 19 New Jersey municipalities where government workers make up more than one quarter of the working population and nearly all – bar three towns – are in Cumberland, Burlington, Atlantic, Ocean and Cape May counties.

Here is an interactive map:

The numbers here are estimates, based on the the most recent census and the Census Bureau’s projections for 2016. For some municipalities, where there is a small sample size, there is a high margin of error to the estimates. (Read more about the data here). But there are some interesting features to the map at the local level. For instance, cities such as Atlantic City, Bridgeton and Pleasantville have much lower densities of public-sector workers than the suburbs that surround them.

Below is a searchable table so you can find the working population and estimated percent employed by the local, state or federal government in any of New Jersey’s 565 municipalities.

Just as a note, this is the kind of reporting that we at Route 40 would like to do a lot more of. If you are interested in supporting us, you can become a member here, or make a one-off financial contribution here.