Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ

 Census 2000 Profile of General Demographic Characteristics for

Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ Counties

 

County Highlights

 

• Median age in Cape May and Ocean Counties surpass 40-year old mark.  According to the 2000 Census, Cape May surpassed Ocean as the county with the oldest population in the state with a median age of 42.3 years.  Ocean County’s median age was 41.0 years.  The slower increase of Ocean County’s median age reflected a fast growing under-65-population in the county.  The number of persons under 65 years of age grew by a hefty 19.5 percent in Ocean County, but just increased by 7.5 percent in Cape May County during the 1990s.  Hudson County was Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ’s youngest county with a median age of 33.6 years.

 

• Ocean County tops in senior population.  Ocean County had the largest percentage of persons aged 65 and over (22.2%) in the state in 2000, followed by Cape May (20.2%) and Bergen (15.2%) counties.  Ocean County’s senior population (113,260) was second only to Bergen County (134,820) in terms of size.  Middlesex County added the most persons 65 and over, growing by 13,773 from 1990 to 2000 to reach a total of 92,590.

 

• Ocean County added the most housing units in the 1990s.  Ocean County had the largest net housing unit increase (+28,848) in the state from 1990 to 2000, followed by Middlesex (23,463) and Monmouth (22,476) counties. 

 

• Sussex, Somerset, Burlington and Ocean counties led the state in nonfamily household growth.  The number of nonfamily households grew by more than 30% in Sussex, Somerset, Burlington and Ocean Counties.  The rate of growth in the state was 17.7%.  Somerset and Ocean Counties also had the fastest growth in family households (+20.0% and +14.0% respectively).

 

• Female-headed households grew much faster than married couple households.  The state’s families headed by women with no husband present (+14.3%) increased more than three times as fast as married-couple families (+3.8%) in the past decade.  Ocean, Gloucester and Somerset counties’ female-headed households each grew by 25%.  However, the proportions of family households headed by a woman were still relatively low in these counties.  Married-couple households declined in Cumberland (-5.5%), Salem (-5.2%), Camden (-4.0%), Essex (-3.7%), Union (-3.1%) and Passaic (-0.6%) counties.  The proportions of married-couple families have been relatively low in these counties.

 

• New Jersey’s average household size was 2.68 in 2000, down slightly from the 1990’s 2.70, but still larger than the national figure. The reduction in the average household size was most evident in Burlington (from 2.79 to 2.65), Gloucester (from 2.87 to 2.75) and Sussex (from 2.91 to 2.80) counties.  Five counties with large volumes of recent foreign immigrants increased their average household sizes in the past decade: Passaic (+.07), Union (+.06), Atlantic (+.03), Middlesex (+.03) and Somerset (+.02).

 

• Homeownership rates were highest in Hunterdon (83.6%), Ocean (83.2%), and Sussex (82.7%) counties.  These counties also had high proportions of non-Hispanic white residents who tend to have higher homeownership rates than their nonwhite and Hispanic counterparts.

 

• Housing vacancy rate decreased in the state during the 1990s, from 9.1 percent in 1990 to 7.4 percent in 2000.  The decrease/increase of vacancy rates varied among counties, ranging from a 4.9 percentage point decrease in Hudson County (from 9.1% to 4.2%) to a 1.0 percentage point increase in Camden County (from 6.0% to 7.0%).

 

• Essex, Mercer and Middlesex Counties led the state in group quarters population in 2000.  Essex County had the largest institutionalized population while large college campuses in Mercer and Middlesex counties made up most of their group quarters populations.  Cumberland County’s group quarters population showed the largest percentage gain (85.9%) from 1990 to 2000, adding 5,700 persons – a reflection of the opening of new state and federal correctional institutions in the county during the 1990s.

 

• Asian Indian was the fastest growing group among Asians between 1990 and 2000.  The number of Asian Indians more than doubled in nine Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ counties.  Middlesex County had the largest gain of Asian Indians (+35,770), followed by Hudson County (+8,934) and Bergen County (+8,082).  Together with Morris and Somerset Counties, these five counties accounted for more than two-thirds (67.5%) of the state’s total Asian Indian population as of April 1, 2000.

 

• Chinese was the second largest Asian group in Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ.  The number of Chinese more than doubled in three Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ counties – Atlantic (+129%), Somerset (+128%) and Middlesex (+103%).  Middlesex County also had the largest gain of Chinese (+11,147) during the 1990s, followed by Bergen (+5,178) and Somerset (+4,569) counties.  More than three in every five (62.8%) of Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ’s Chinese population resided in Middlesex, Bergen, Morris, Monmouth and Somerset counties as of April 1, 2000.

 

• The number of Filipinos more than doubled in three Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ counties in the past decade – Hunterdon (+174%), Atlantic (+118%) and Sussex (+107%) from relatively small bases.  More than two-thirds (68.8%) of the state’s Filipino population resided in Hudson, Bergen, Middlesex, Essex and Union counties, according to the 2000 Census.

 

• Japanese was the sole declining Asian group in Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ.  Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ’s Japanese population decreased by 2,581 during the 1990s.  Bergen County alone experienced a net loss of 2,528 Japanese.  However, with 7,662 Japanese residents, Bergen County still had more than one-half (52.2%) of the state’s total Japanese population in 2000.

 

• The number of Korean residents more than doubled in Bergen County (+20,002 or 124%) during the 1990s.  Consequently, Bergen County alone accounted for more than one in every two (55.2%) Korean residents in the state in 2000.

 

• Vietnamese was the second fastest growing group in the past decade, next only to Asian Indian, among the state’s Asians.  The number of Vietnamese more than doubled in five New Jersey counties – Warren (+268%), Camden (+221%), Atlantic (+205%), Ocean (+151%) and Middlesex (+125%) from 1990 to 2000.  The majority of the state’s Vietnamese population (61.9%) was concentrated in four counties – Camden, Atlantic, Middlesex and Hudson as of 2000.

 

• Mexican was the fastest growing group among the state’s Hispanics (or Latinos).  The number of Mexicans more than quadrupled in five Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ counties during the 1990s – Cumberland (+560%), Ocean (+474%), Atlantic (+401%), Monmouth (+363%) and Middlesex (+335%).  The largest increases of Mexicans occurred in Passaic County (+14,669), Middlesex County (+10,980) and Hudson County (+7,912).  These three counties accounted for 45.2 percent of the state’s total increase of Mexicans between 1990 and 2000.  Together with Monmouth County, these four counties had the majority (53.6%) of the state’s total Mexican residents as of 2000.  These four counties also led the state’s Mexican population in 1990, accounting for 49.9 percent of the state’s total Mexicans.

 

• The state’s largest Hispanic group – Puerto Rican had moderate growth (+14.6%) in Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ during the 1990s.  Substantial growth of Puerto Ricans was observed in Middlesex, Camden, Bergen and Union counties.  These four counties accounted for 46.1 percent of the state’s total increase of 46,655 Puerto Rican residents from 1990 to 2000.  Hudson, Essex, Passaic, Middlesex and Camden counties had the majority (65.4%) of the state’s Puerto Ricans in 1990.  They still had 60.3 percent of the state’s Puerto Ricans as of 2000.

 

• The number of Cubans declined by 8,041 in Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ from 1990 to 2000.  The most substantial declines occurred in Hudson (-10,214), Union (-2,253) and Essex (-1,002) counties.  However, Bergen County had a net gain of 2,397 Cubans in the 1990s.  More than three of every four (76.5%) of Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ’s Cubans resided in these four counties as of 2000.  They had 82.2 percent of the state’s total Cuban population in 1990.

 

Prepared by: Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ Department of Labor, Division of Labor Market and Demographic Research, May 23, 2001.