65,874 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.6% since 2020)
332 square miles of land · 198 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
15 active community water systems list Salem County in the area they serve, reporting 41,460 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| NJ AMERICAN WATER - PENNS GROVE buys surface water · private · NJ1707001 | 14,406 served |
| PENNSVILLE TWSP. WATER DEPART. groundwater · local government · NJ1708001 | 13,500 served |
| NJ AMERICAN WATER - SALEM CITY groundwater · private · NJ1712001 | 4,794 served |
| WOODSTOWN WATER DEPARTMENT groundwater · local government · NJ1715001 | 4,455 served |
| ELMER BORO W DEPT groundwater · local government · NJ1702001 | 1,385 served |
| HARDING WOODS MHP groundwater · private · NJ1710001 | 1,276 served |
| HOLLY TREE ACRES SYSTEM 1 groundwater · private · NJ1710002 | 300 served |
| COUNTRY CLUB ESTATES groundwater · private · NJ1714001 | 300 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 356 people were held in Salem County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 871 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 342.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
13 school districts have their office in Salem County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $57.6 million — $53.1 million to run schools, about $23,976 per student, plus $651,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12.8 million local (mostly property tax), $42.6 million state, $7.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.4 million.
Spent $47.1 million — $41.9 million to run schools, about $23,006 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $25.6 million local (mostly property tax), $24.8 million state, $2.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $28.3 million.
Spent $44.2 million — $40.6 million to run schools, about $23,924 per student, plus $2.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.5 million local (mostly property tax), $27 million state, $2.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.2 million.
Spent $36 million — $33.3 million to run schools, about $22,013 per student, plus $820,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $19 million local (mostly property tax), $15.5 million state, $2.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $15.4 million.
Spent $41 million — $35.1 million to run schools, about $26,008 per student, plus $3.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.9 million local (mostly property tax), $27.4 million state, $7.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $490,000.
Spent $16.3 million — $14.2 million to run schools, about $20,406 per student, plus $1.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6 million local (mostly property tax), $10.6 million state, $123,000 federal. Long-term debt: $9.7 million.
Spent $10.4 million — $8.5 million to run schools, about $25,227 per student, plus $290,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.3 million local (mostly property tax), $5 million state, $452,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.5 million.
Spent $8.7 million — $6.9 million to run schools, about $24,202 per student, plus $73,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.1 million local (mostly property tax), $5.5 million state, $746,000 federal. Long-term debt: $900,000.
And 5 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Salem County about $40.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
114 bridges in Salem County: 32 in good condition, 79 fair, and 3 poor (2.6%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| US 40 WESTBOUND over WEST BRANCH GAME CREEK · built 1941 | 6,566 vehicles a day |
| RT 48 over I-295 · built 1965 | 6,541 vehicles a day |
| I-295 RAMP K over I-295 SB · built 1971 | 3,730 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $14.2 million of work in Salem County in fiscal 2025, about $219 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for New Jersey are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Salem County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Salem County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of New Jersey: the state government and every county in New Jersey.
Nearby counties: Gloucester County (15 mi) · New Castle County, DE (15 mi) · Cumberland County (21 mi) · Delaware County, PA (24 mi) · Camden County (26 mi) · Cecil County, MD (31 mi).