Salem County, New Jersey

Salem County population, land area and income

Salem County had 65,874 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 331.9 square miles of land. It ranks 21st of 21 in New Jersey by population and 10th by land area. That works out to 198.5 people per square mile, 2.1 times the US average of 96.3, and in the top quarter nationally.

The median county-equivalent in New Jersey has 475,515 residents, so Salem County has 14% of the typical county's population.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $84,008 is in the top quarter among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Salem County's population changed since 2020

Salem County gained 1,031 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a rise of 1.6%. That ranks 16th of 21 in New Jersey for growth. The median New Jersey county changed by +2.3%, and the state as a whole by +2.5%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Salem County recorded 3,079 births and 3,588 deaths, a natural change of -509. Net international migration added +234 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to +1,308. The largest single component was domestic migration, which added 1,308 people.

Where Salem County is

The Census internal point of Salem County is at 39.573800, -75.357400. It sits in UTM zone 18N. The map shades New Jersey's 21 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Salem County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Salem County

4 incorporated places of 1,000+ people have residents in Salem County, 15,424 people together, or 23% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside Salem County; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Salem with 5,369.

Counties bordering Salem County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 4 neighbors for Salem County, including 2 across a state line. The most populous is New Castle County, DE, with 588,093 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• DE

  New Castle County, DE

  588,093 people

  15 mi W

• Gloucester County

  311,783 people

  15 mi NE

• DE

  Kent County, DE

  192,690 people

  34 mi SSW

• Cumberland County

  155,678 people

  21 mi SE

Distance to Trenton and the nearest big city

Trenton is 54.9 miles NE of Salem County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Philadelphia, PA (population 1,573,916), 32.4 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Bridgeton, NJ (population 27,722), 12.1 miles away.

Salem County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Salem County is 34033: state code 34 for New Jersey plus county code 033. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $84,008.