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Home > Community Development > Community Profiles > Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division (MD) > Demographics and Economic Data

Community Profile: Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division (MD)

Demographics and Economic Data

Included in this section is a brief summary of demographic and economic data. Detailed data can be accessed through the following websites:

• Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council : The website includes a geocoding/mapping system that allows users to obtain census data based on specific street addresses and a census report system that provides census information by census tract within a county or MSA.
• PolicyMap : This geographic information system, which includes an interactive mapping tool developed by The Reinvestment Fund, allows users to create custom maps, tables, and charts for over 10,000 indicators and provides the ability to plot external data.
• U.S. Census Bureau American FactFinder : Official source for population, housing, economic, and geographic data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Included below is a summary of the following data:

• Population
• Income
• Poverty Level
• Housing Units
• Housing Permits
• Local Industries
• Unemployment Rate
• Education

Population1

The population of the Camden, NJ MD rose from 1,127,972 in 1990 to 1,186,999 in 2000, a 5.2 percent increase. During the same period, the state of New Jersey experienced an 8.9 percent increase in population, while the city of Camden’s population declined 8.7 percent.

Table 1 shows the racial composition of the state of New Jersey, Camden MD, and city of Camden based on the 2000 census. In the city of Camden, 52.3 percent of the population was black or African American, compared to 13.4 percent of the population for the state and 14.8 percent for the Camden MD. The last line of the table represents the percentage of the total population who stated they were Hispanic or Latino in origin.

The racial composition of the Camden, NJ MD is illustrated in Figure 1.

The racial composition of those who reported they were Hispanic or Latino in origin within the Camden, NJ MD (6.1 percent of the total population for the MD) is illustrated in Figure 2.

Income

The 1999 median household income for the Camden, NJ MD was $53,165, and the median family income was $62,162.2 Statewide, the median household income was $55,146, and the median family income was $65,370.1 In the same year, the median household income for the city of Camden was $23,421, and the median family income was $24,612.1

The term low- and moderate-income persons (LMI) is used for CRA and community development purposes and includes people and communities whose income is less than 80 percent of the area median income. People and communities whose income is less than 50 percent of the area median income are considered low income and those whose income exceeds 50 percent, but does not exceed 80 percent, are considered moderate income.

In 2000, there were 431,163 households within the Camden, NJ metropolitan division. Of all households in all census tracts, 21.9 percent were households with low incomes and 17.1 percent were households with moderate incomes. A household's income is not necessarily an indicator of the income of the census tract in which the household resides. As Table 2 indicates, 66.8 percent of all households with low incomes resided in middle- and upper-income census tracts and 75.1 percent of all households with moderate incomes resided in middle- and upper-income census tracts.3

In 2007, there were 318 census tracts in the Camden, NJ metropolitan division. Of the total, 19 were low-income tracts and 49 were moderate-income tracts. In the city of Camden, there were 21 census tracts. Of the total, 18 were low-income tracts and three were moderate-income tracts. 3

Poverty Level1

In 1999, the Camden, NJ MD had 86,796 residents living below the poverty line, or 7.5 percent of the Camden MD population. Statewide, 8.5 percent of the population was living below the poverty line. The city of Camden had 26,786 residents (35.5 percent of the total population) living below the poverty line.

Information about how the U.S. Census Bureau measures poverty is available through its website.

Housing Units1

In 2000 the Camden, NJ MD had a total of 456,044 housing units, of which 94.5 percent were occupied and 5.5 percent were vacant. Of the occupied housing units, 74.7 percent were occupied by the owner, and 25.3 percent were occupied by a renter. The state of New Jersey had a total of 3,310,275 housing units, of which 92.6 percent were occupied and 7.4 percent were vacant. The city of Camden had a total of 29,769 housing units, of which 81.2 percent were occupied and 18.8 percent were vacant.

The reasons for vacancies are illustrated in Figure 3.

Housing Permits

In January 2007, 171 housing permits for new, privately owned houses in the Camden, NJ MD were issued. Of this group, 167 housing permits were for 1- to 4-unit homes. These numbers have not been seasonally adjusted.4

Current information regarding housing permits in MSAs and other areas within the Third Federal Reserve District is available through a database on the Regional Employment, Unemployment, and Selected Statistics page of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Research Department.

Local Industries

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Research Department maintains a database of monthly employment data by industry for the Camden, NJ MD (Excel spreadsheet). Please note that all values for industry employment in this file are in thousands.

Unemployment Rate5

In 2006, the Camden, NJ MD had an annual unemployment rate of 4.6 percent, which matched the rate for the state of New Jersey. The city of Camden had an annual unemployment rate of 10.7 percent for the same year.

More recent unemployment data are available through the Bureau of Labor Statistics' website.

Education1

In the Camden, NJ MD 25.2 percent of the population that is 25 years of age or older has a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the city of Camden, however, only 5.4 percent of the population that is 25 years of age or older has received a bachelor’s degree or higher. For the state of New Jersey, this figure is 29.8 percent. See Figure 4 for more details.

• 1 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, “2000 Census – Summary File 3,” http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en 
• 2 Source: Estimates for median household income and median family income provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, “2000 Census – Summary File 3,” http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en. Actual median household income falls within the range of $50,000 to $59,000. Actual median family income falls within the range of $60,000 to $74,999.
• 3 Source: Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), http://www.ffiec.gov. 
• 4 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, “Manufacturing, Mining, and Construction Statistics,” http://www.census.gov/const/www/permitsindex.html
• 5 Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Local Area Unemployment Statistics,” 2006 annual data, http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/outside.jsp?survey=la 

• Last updated: Monday, October 29, 2007