By Luke Nozicka | NJ Advance Media

The largest employers in New Jersey counties range from hospitals and universities to pharmaceutical companies and military manufacturing facilities.

The state Department of Labor declined to release information about the size of New Jersey employers, citing the State Unemployment Insurance law. NJ Advance Media created this list by calling local chamber of commerce or business and economic development offices in each county.

Officials in several counties, such as Essex, Cape May and Hunterdon, said they don't keep exact employment data on its businesses. Our list includes some of the top employers in those counties. In other cases, counties could only provide data on private businesses.

Eleven of the state’s 21 counties said one of their largest employers is a hospital or medical center. Of the data provided, only two employers top 10,000 workers, both of which are hospitals.

Here are the top employers in every New Jersey county.

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Healthcare is huge in New Jersey.

RWJBarnabas Health is the largest private employer in the Garden State with 31,683 employees, and about half of the counties said one of their largest employers is a hospital or medical center.

Rutgers economist Jim Hughes said healthcare accounts for 16 percent of all jobs in the state. Healthcare systems became the top employers in several counties, he said, as the state lost manufacturing jobs over the last 45 years.

Large healthcare organizations are growing even more enormous in recent years with mergers, such as the one between Barnabas Health and Robert Wood Johnson Health System.

"That's a behemoth," Hughes said of the organization that completed its merger in March 2016, creating the state's largest medical network. "We may even see more [mergers] in the future."

The list also includes Department of Labor data on state government employees, though it does not include employment figures at educational institutions, commissions or authorities.

Here are the top employers in every New Jersey county.

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NJ Advance Media file

Atlantic County

Employer: Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City

Number of employees: 6,165

Industry: Lodging and gaming

Information provided by the NJ Casino Control Commission

The Business Development Atlantic County Economic Alliance initially reported that Bally's Park Place Inc. in Atlantic City was the largest employer in the county with 5,300 workers

Number of state government employees in the county: 1,680

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S.P. Sullivan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Bergen County

Employer: Hackensack University Medical Center

Number of employees: 7,834

Industry: Hospital

Information provided by the county’s Office of Economic Development

Number of state government employees in the county: 1,584

More coverage: Bergen County's largest employer eyes big expansion

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Photo provided by Dave Nagle of the U.S. Navy

Burlington County

Employer: Lockheed Martin in Moorestown

Number of employees: 3,450

Industry: Aerospace and defense

Information provided by the Burlington County Bridge Commission

In late July, the facility was looking to hire nearly 300 more people.

Number of state government employees in the county: 3,595

More coverage: The 31 largest employers in Burlington County

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Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media

Camden County

Employer: Cooper University Health Care in Camden

Number of employees: 7,024

Industry: Hospital

Information provided by Camden County officials

Number of state government employees in the county: 3,744

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Spencer Kent | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Cape May County

The United States Coast Guard Training Center, the Woodbine Development Center and the Cape Regional Medical Center are among the largest employers in the county, though officials do not keep exact data on their number of employees.

Carole Mattessich, the county’s director of economic development, said her department is teaming up with the County Chamber of Commerce to create a new business census so the county has exact figures.

Number of state government employees in the county: 1,563

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Cumberland County

Employer: Inspira Health Network in Vineland

Number of employees: 2,911

Industry: Hospital

Information provided by the Cumberland County Improvement Authority

Number of state government employees in the county: 4,435

More coverage: Inspira announces partnership with Vineland Urgent Care

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Marisa Iati | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Essex County

RWJBarnabas Health is likely one of the largest employers in Essex County, though county officials do not keep exact data on its employers.

In February 2016, the healthcare system had 11,624 employees in the county, according to the economic development agency Choose New Jersey.

Number of state government employees in the county: 4,944

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Provided photo

Gloucester County

Employer: Inspira Health Network in Woodbury

Number of employees: 1,825

Industry: Hospital

Information provided by Gloucester County officials

Number of state government employees in the county: 658

More coverage: Inspira breaks ground for new $349M hospital in South Jersey

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Stephanie Maksin | For NJ.com

Hudson County

Employer: United States Postal Service

Number of employees: 6,000

Industry: Package delivering

Information provided by the Hudson County Economic Development Corporation

Number of state government employees in the county: 1,468

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Photo provided by Doug Hoeschler

Hunterdon County

Hunterdon Healthcare, ExxonMobil and Johanna Foods are among the largest employers in the county, though officials with the county’s Economic Development office do not keep exact data.

The healthcare system had between 1,000 and 2,499 employees in the county in February 2016, according to data from the non-profit economic development agency Choose New Jersey.

Number of state government employees in the county: 2,479

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Photo provided by Denise Applewhite

Mercer County

At least 25,800 state government employees work in Mercer County, making New Jersey the largest employer in Mercer County, according to Department of Labor data from 2016.

The largest private employer in the county is Princeton University, according to county officials.

Employer: Princeton University

Number of employees: 6,011

Industry: Higher education

Information provided by county officials

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Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Middlesex County

Employer: Rutgers University

Number of employees: 8,000-plus

Industry: Education

Information provided by Middlesex County officials

Number of state government employees in the county (not including Rutgers): 3,492

Note: Largest non-governmental employer: Robert Wood Johnson/Barnabas Health in New Brunswick with between 5,000 to 5,249 employees

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Star-Ledger file photo

Monmouth County

Employer: Meridian Health System, Inc.

Number of employees: 10,684

Industry: Hospital

Information provided by Monmouth County officials, which represents 2016 data

Number of state government employees in the county: 1,729

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Atlantic Health System

Morris County

Employer: Atlantic Health System

Number of employees: At least 7,900

Industry: Hospital

Information provided by Atlantic Health System

The Morris County Department of Planning and Public Works initially reported that Picatinny Arsenal was the largest employer in the county with 6,000 workers

Number of state government employees in the county: 2,650

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Ocean County

Employer: Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc. in Jackson

Number of employees: About 4,000

Industry: Theme park operator

Information provided by the Ocean County Department of Planning, which represents data from 2016

Number of state government employees in the county: 1,164

More coverage: Six Flags hiring for its largest Fright Fest

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Passaic County

Employer: St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson

Number of employees: 5,191

Industry: Hospital

Information provided by the Passaic County’s Division of Economic Development. The county’s data does not include governmental entities

Number of state government employees in the county: 1,410

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Spencer Kent | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Salem County

Employer: PSE&G

Number of employees: 1,595

Industry: Energy

Information provided by PSE&G and Salem County's office of economic development, cultural affairs and tourism

Number of state government employees in the county: 246

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Photo provided by Advance Realty

Somerset County

Employer: Sanofi U.S. in Bridgewater Township

Number of employees: 4,000

Industry: Pharmaceutical

Information provided by the Greater Raritan Workforce Development Board consists of data from January 2016

Number of state government employees in the county: 884

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Sussex County

Employer: Newton Medical Center

Number of employees: 1,224

Industry: Hospital

Information provided by the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce

Number of state government employees in the county: 334

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Union County

Employer: Merck & Co.

Number of employees: 5,000

Industry: Pharmaceutical

Information provided by the Union County Economic Development Corporation consists of 2016 data

Number of state government employees in the county: 1,136

More coverage: Merck to cut 300+ jobs from N.J., Pennsylvania locations

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Amy Kuperinsky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Warren County

Employer: Mars Chocolate North America in Hackettstown

Number of employees: About 1,600

Industry: Manufactoring

Information provided by Warren County officials

Number of state government employees in the county: 353

More coverage: Take a rare look inside the N.J. M&M's plant

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About the list

Looking at the biggest employers in each county took a bit of digging.

The state declined to release their list, and several counties said they don't keep that information. So, we talked to chambers of commerce and business and economic development offices in each county, as well as economic groups, including Choose New Jersey, a nonprofit corporation created to promote the state.

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Luke Nozicka may be reached at lnozicka@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @lukenozicka. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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