Photo courtesy of the Verona Historical Society

By Stephen Stirling

The only thing still recognizable of New Jersey of 1968 may be its borders.

The last 50 years have starkly reshaped the landscape of the Garden State, from its sardine-packed Gold Coast to the white sands of Cape May. We analyzed decades of Census data to show the myriad ways New Jersey has evolved.

What emerges is a portrait of a society that's constantly shifting and potentially foreshadows the challenges of the years ahead. The graphics below detail seven of the most dramatic shifts, which are fundamentality shaping who we are as a state.

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Packed like sardines

This likely isn't news to most residents, but it's important. New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation, packing more than 1,200 people per square mile of space. This colors not only how development proceeds, but could also have impacts on how growth occurs.

The map above shows how population density has changed since 1920. Click the button in the top-left corner to see how America, and New Jersey, has grown.

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The Great Slowdown

After experiencing nearly exponential growth from the 1790s through 1970, New Jersey has been adding fewer and fewer new residents. As New Jersey is outpaced by other states around the country, its Congressional delegation has suffered.

Growth has slowed to a near halt over the last decade or so, which could imperil one of the state's 12 seats in Congress after the 2020 Census.

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A state of fewer immigrants...

It would be easy to think, given the political firestorm immigration has been for the last decade, that New Jersey has the highest proportion of immigrants its had in the past half century. This is not the case.

Following World War II, New Jersey, historically one of the first ports of call for new immigrants, saw a tremendous influx of people from Europe. By 1960, more than a third of the population was born outside of the United States. Today, about 22 percent of New Jersey residents were born outside the country.

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...but brimming with diversity

While New Jersey may have considerably fewer immigrants than it did 50 years ago, today the population is far more global. While the bulk of New Jersey claimed European ancestry in the 1950s and 1960s, today there are groups of 1,000 people or more from more than 100 countries around the world.

This includes significant populations from South America, Africa and Asia, all of which were nearly non-existent in New Jersey 50 years ago.

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The majority-minority flip cometh

New Jersey will likely be one of the first states in the country to become a majority-minority state. Just 60 years ago, New Jersey was more than 90 percent white. In 2016, white people make up a slim majority of the population and, if current trends hold, will likely fall below 50 percent in the next 10 years.

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Women have higher education levels

For the first time in state history, women hold more college degrees than men. The percentage of women who hold a bachelor's degree or greater grew to 38.7%, narrowly edging men. By percentage, New Jersey women also hold more graduate degrees and doctorates than men.

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Love and/or marriage

The past decade also marked a significant moment for marriage in New Jersey. For the first time, the percentage of people over 15 who were married dropped below 50 percent. More than one-third of the population has never married, and about 8.6 percent are divorced.

New Jersey also boasts the highest rate of second and third marriages in the country, Census data shows.

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A historically low birth rate

One thing driving New Jersey's slowed growth is the birth rate. In 1960, the national birth rate in the United States was 23.4 per 1,000 women. Today it stands at just 12.4, with New Jersey's even lower, at 11.8.

Today's growth is primarily driven by immigration and little else.

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Courtesy of the Courier-Post

Read more N.J. data reporting

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