New Jersey
New Jersey leads Northeast in population growth and is bigger than ever. Here’s why.
Four-minute read
According to Census data, Lakewood is the fastest growing town in New Jersey.
Lakewood is a town with an exploding population and growth. A look at the dynamics of New Jersey’s fastest growing town.
New Jersey’s population reached a record 9.5 million in 2024, a surprise surge that was driven by international immigrants who have more than made up for a modest birth rate and long-time residents leaving the Garden State, analysts said.
The steady stream of immigrants during the past five years has given New Jersey the strongest population growth in the Northeast. And while President Donald Trump has moved quickly to crack down on immigration, experts say the influx has helped the state’s economy by adding to the labor force and sparking new businesses.
“Immigrants at all levels are an engine of growth,” said Jennifer Gordon, a professor at Fordham Law School in New York who specializes in immigration law.
New Jersey’s population, merely inching ahead for the better part of two decades, jumped 1.3% in 2024, according to U.S. Census data, placing the Garden State among the 10 fastest growing states nationwide.
It gave Gov. Phil Murphy a chance during his recent State of the State address to tout the New Jersey economy and fire back against a perennial survey by United Van Lines that invariably shows residents leaving in droves.
“Apparently, there are far more moving vans coming into New Jersey than leaving,” he said.The van line survey might not be wrong; New Jersey continues to see more people leave than arrive from other states, according to Census data. But the survey is confined to the company’s own customers. New Jersey has made up for the loss of with a gain of 327,188 international immigrants since 2020, data shows.
New Jersey has about 2.3 million immigrants, including about 450,000 who are undocumented. They make up nearly a quarter of the state’s population, higher than the national rate of 14.3%, according to government data.
Experts say the arrival of immigrants makes sense. New Jersey long has been a magnet for foreign-born residents who have managed to carve out a home and build a culture that in turn has attracted more immigrants.
“Diversity of the (New Jersey) population provides a strong draw for international immigrants,” said Kusum Mundra, an economics professor at Rutgers University in Newark.
Rafael Henrique, 34, is part of the wave. He recently launched Long Branch Business, a Portuguese language magazine whose advertisers include a barber shop, a butcher, a pet groomer and a transportation service.
Henrique, who lives in West Long Branch, said he arrived five years ago from his home state of Minas Gerais in southeast Brazil, following in the footsteps of a second cousin.
The Census data doesn’t show how many Brazilians live in Long Branch, but the town is dotted with Brazilian restaurants, bakeries and markets.
Henrique’s reason for moving to the Jersey Shore echoed generations of immigrants.
“Most people move for safety and to provide better living conditions for their family,” he said.
From July 2023 to July 2024, New Jersey had a net population gain of 121,209, according to the Census Bureau data that was compiled by Rutgers University economist James W. Hughes. It was the fastest growth rate in the Northeast.
Where did the population growth come from?
- International immigration. New Jersey gained 130,692 international immigrants. For context, the state has the 11th highest overall population nationwide, but the fifth-most international immigrants.
- Birth rate. New Jersey had 101,199 births and 75,189 deaths, for a net population gain of 26,010. The state’s birth rate ranks in the middle of the pack, Hughes said, but in the long run, it isn’t high enough to replace the aging baby boomer population.
- Domestic migration. New Jersey had a net loss of 35,554 as residents left the state for new jobs, lower costs or warmer weather. The three most popular destinations, according to Census data: Pennsylvania, New York and Florida.
Despite the net loss of domestic migration, New Jersey’s housing market remains tight. The state has been attracting New York residents in particular who have been searching for more safety and space since the pandemic. And at least some New Jersey residents who bought or refinanced their homes during the pandemic at record-low mortgage rates and are unwilling to move to another home now that rates are hovering around 7%, Hughes said.
The population growth has helped the state’s job market. New Jersey has added 176,900 jobs since February 2020, the month before the pandemic hit, a 4.1% gain. It’s slower than the U.S. job growth rate of 4.6%, but four times stronger than New York and Massachusetts, and twice as strong as Pennsylvania, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
“With declining births, with net domestic migration losses, immigration is really the only key source of population growth in New Jersey,” Hughes said.
How long that growth continues isn’t clear. With supporters concerned about the impact of immigration on taxpayer resources, President Trump in his first day returning to office declared a national emergency on the U.S. and Mexico border. He has promised massive deportations. And he signed a decree ending birthright citizenship, which is protected by the Constitution.
New Jersey on Tuesday joined 17 other states in a lawsuit challenging Trump’s birthright citizenship order.
“They are going to try and do things that make it harder for children born to undocumented immigrants to claim U.S. citizenship, even though they’re constitutionally entitled to it,” Fordham’s Gordon said. “I don’t think that’s bluster. I think the question is how much of it they’ll be able to achieve, given the large distance between saying something like that rhetorically and actually getting it done on the ground.”
Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter for the Asbury Park Press. He has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry since 1999. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.
For Nora Corthren, the work goes far beyond organizing events or telling stories. It’s about helping people see themselves in hockey.
As the NHL’s Manager of Content, Audience Development, and Social Impact, Corthren works at the crossroads of storytelling and community engagement, helping shine a spotlight on initiatives that make our game of hockey more welcoming and inclusive. From Pride programming to the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award and Hockey Fights Cancer, her role focuses on highlighting the people and organizations making a difference throughout the hockey world.
Over the past four years, Corthren has witnessed meaningful growth across the sport.
“It really has been wonderful to just see the hockey world continue to grow and develop and become more welcoming and more diverse and more inclusive,” she said.
Much of that progress comes from grassroots organizations working to create safe and welcoming spaces for players and fans from all backgrounds. Corthren’s job often involves identifying those stories and using the NHL’s platform to amplify them.
“I think it’s something that a lot of people who do the grassroots work of trying to make the game a more inclusive and welcoming space, they don’t do it for the attention,” she said. “They very much do it for the impact.”
That ability to elevate organizations and individuals making a difference has become one of the most rewarding parts of her work.
Among the initiatives closest to Corthren’s heart is the NHL’s continued involvement in Pride celebrations, including the annual New York City Pride March. For years, the league has marched alongside local hockey organizations and teams from across the New York metropolitan area, including the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Sirens, and New York Rangers.
For Corthren, the importance of that presence cannot be overstated. Seeing the NHL shield, the NHL teams’ logos, and even, yes, NJ Devil, are important parts of representation to a marginalized community.
A notorious mob hitman who once testified against John “Junior” Gotti before cleaning up his life and becoming a councilman in New Jersey has been arrested on extortion and loansharking charges that, if proven, reflect a return to the lifestyle of his youth.
John Alite, 63, was arrested on Friday in New Jersey, where he was sworn in early last year as a councilman in the borough of Englishtown. Released after a court appearance Saturday, Alite is scheduled to return to court for a detention hearing Wednesday.
His attorney, Douglas Anton, responding to an email seeking comment, said he did not want to speak about the case before the next court appearance.
Alite faces multiple counts of extortion, corporate misconduct, loansharking and terroristic threats.
Alite provided loans at exorbitant rates before threatening violence to collect on them, authorities said, citing the discovery in his home of metal knuckles, an expandable baton, six baseball bats and about two dozen knives, including switchblades.
The baseball bats, authorities said, included one stored near his home’s front door and five more in a kitchen storage bench.
An officer of the New Jersey State Police, an investigative arm of the attorney general’s office, said in court papers that it appeared that the weapons found in Alite’s residence were intended for use in collecting debts.
According to court papers, Alite had threatened one person he had lent money to, saying he would strike him across the head with a baseball bat if he didn’t meet his demands.
Alite also had bragged that he had in the past endeavored to “gut” people like “fish,” the court papers said.
In a release, prosecutors said Alite carried out crimes in part through his corporation, Straightened-Out Entertainment Inc.
They said he illegally obtained property and money from his victims by threats of violence in ways that reflected his 2009 testimony at a Gotti trial that ended with a deadlocked jury.
Alite told a Manhattan federal court jury that he killed a childhood friend to earn respect from fellow mobsters.
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The Garden State set a record for monthly iGaming revenue in May. Read how much for the biggest month ever in New Jersey iGaming.
New Jersey online casinos have been going strong all year, but May 2026 was especially notable. The Garden State’s iGaming market earned a record-breaking $276.3 million last month. This amount eclipsed the previous record of $273.2 million set in December 2025.
NJ online casino revenue for May 2026: $276.3 million
The $276.3 million earned in May 2026 represents an 11.9% year-over-year (YoY) increase from May 2025, when NJ online casinos earned $246.8 million.
This was yet another strong month and double-digit increase for New Jersey iGaming. The state had an identical 11.9% YoY uptick last month, when iCasinos made $263.1 million.
Year-to-date earnings for New Jersey gaming sites are $1.32 billion through May 2026. That’s up 14.4% compared to the same time period last year, when New Jersey had $1.16 billion through May 2025.
Golden Nugget enjoyed the strongest month
According to the May 2026 New Jersey iGaming revenue report, the Golden Nugget brand led all NJ iCasinos with $86.45 million. Of the three online casinos operating under Golden Nugget’s license, FanDuel made the most with $63.24 million from casino games online. BetRivers and Golden Nugget Online earned $12.43 million and $10.79 million, respectively.
Resorts Casino Hotel had the second-best month with $53.89 million. It doesn’t break down revenue by each online casino. But DraftKings is the biggest operator on this license on account of its progressive jackpot slots.
Retail casinos stay flat
Last month, brick-and-mortar casinos joined in the party with an 11.7% YoY increase. This month was a different story. New Jersey land-based casinos made $265.6 million in May 2026, just a 0.1% increase over the $256.3 million made the previous May.
The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa had the best month among NJ retail casinos, earning $72.9 million. Hard Rock Atlantic City also had a solid month with $49.9 million, while Ocean Resorts rounded out the top three with $46.8 million.
Sports betting sees a big revenue decrease
In April 2026, sports betting had the largest growth out of New Jersey gambling verticals with a 12.8% YoY increase. However, May 2026 was a different story since NJ bookmakers earned $85.2 million—a 16.9% decrease from the $102.5 million made in the previous May.
The Garden State isn’t an outlier here since other states, like New York and Pennsylvania, also struggled with sports gambling revenue last month. US sportsbooks largely saw a smaller hold in May 2026 and are also dealing with increased competition from prediction markets.
iGaming continues to lead the way
Total gaming revenue for the state was $627.1 million in May 2026, representing a 2.0% YoY increase from the $614.7 million made in the previous May.
iGaming definitely looks to carry the torch moving forward. Many gambling operators are banking on real-money online slots to boost their revenue, while retail casinos and sports betting are currently struggling.
Responsible gambling
Legal US online casinos promote responsible play by allowing players to limit losses, sessions, wagers, and logins. They also offer timeout options for account breaks lasting days to weeks. Self-exclusion is a long-term option that shuts off access to an account for months or years.
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