These are New Jersey’s fastest-shrinking counties
New Jersey is one of the smallest states by area but we are the 11th largest in terms of population.
But we’re shrinking; not by a lot, but we are.
The state lost around 26,000 residents from 2020 to 2022.
Using county population estimates, these are the fastest-shrinking counties.
5. Union County
A lot of people live in Union County- 575,352. For comparison, the city of Cincinnati has 308,000 residents. However, Union County lost 5,537 residents, which is only about 1% of its population, but that puts it fifth.
4. Mercer County
Home to the state capital of Trenton, Mercer County isn’t as populous as Union County; Mercer went from 387,340 to 380,688, a drop of 1.7%.
3. Passaic County
According to the 2020 Census, Passaic County had 535,052 residents. The home of Paterson, the Silk City, Passaic saw 11,116 residents leave for greener pastures, a loss of 2.1%.
2. Essex County
Essex County has a larger population than Cleveland and Pittsburgh combined. In 2020, the population of Essex County was 862,782. But the home of Newark, Montclair, and other popular cities, lost 13,305 residents, a 1.5% drop.
1. Hudson County
Another well-populated county, Hudson County, is also the leader in departures in the state. In 2020, the population was 724,857, but by 2022, that had shrunk by 21,491, the largest population drop in number in percentage lost: 3%.
The state as a whole also lost population from 2020 to 2022, but it was negligible, less than one percent, and from 2019 to 2020, the population grew a healthy 4%.
A lot of these fluctuations are the result of COVID migration patterns and some are simply affordability.
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Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.
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