There is a lot of debate over exactly where Central Jersey is located and whether it exists at all. Many believe it to be a “mythical” place. If it does hypothetically exist, where would it be? Sadly, there is no formal line that defines North, South, and Central Jersey so this in an effort to clearly draw that line.

Three Simple Questions

I was once told you can easily define where Central Jersey is by asking their residents three simple questions:

1) You are going to "the city", which city?

2) You go to a convenient store to buy a sandwich, is it a Wawa or a Quick Check?

3) When you order a sandwich, do you order a hoagie or a sub?

The idea was that if they answer 1) New York, 2) Quick Check, and 3) sub, then they are from North Jersey. Conversely, if they answer 1) Philly, 2) Wawa, and 3) hoagie, then they are from South Jersey. Any mix of these answers means they are from Central Jersey. I decided that the best way to define Central Jersey was to compile these simple questions into hard numbers and facts.

Which City is “The City”

The algorithm used in the following table to determine the approximate distance from county to city was calculated as follows: Each county was given a point that was considered to be its center, labeled as “Point A”. Each city was given a point that was considered to be the main means of entry to the city, labeled as “Point B”. The driving distance from Point A to Point B per county was then determined by three different mapping systems - Google Maps, Map Quest, and Yahoo Maps. The total miles from each mapping system was averaged together to calculate the approximate miles from New York City and Philadelphia (rounded to the nearest full mile).

According to these calculations, there are seven counties in which traveling to Philadelphia is more than twice the distance compared to travelling New York City (marked in red). There are also seven counties in which traveling to New York City is more than twice the distance compared to travelling Philadelphia (marked in blue). The remaining counties are therefore “relatively” the same distance from both New York City and Philadelphia. Coincidentally, this separates New Jersey’s twenty-one counties into three equal sections – North, South and Central.

Accuracy: From North to South

When charted on a map, these seven Central Jersey counties form the neckline of the state. At glance, it appears to be the exact center of the state. However, when accurately measured, the alleged Central Jersey extends too far North and too little South. A more accurate mapping would have Warren County labeled as North Jersey and Burlington as Central Jersey. This would ensure the 21 counties remain evenly split with seven counties in each region but also more accurately depicts Central Jersey as being in the center.

Accuracy: By Square Mileage

The U.S. Census Bureau did a study in 2010 that determined the square mileage of each county. The information to their study is presented below.

With a few calculations, it is determined that Central Jersey without Burlington County nor Warren County most evenly split the counties in accordance to square mileage. Furthermore, Central Jersey with Burlington but without Warren had the largest dissonance.

Unfortunately, Burlington County is the largest county per square miles and is also at the teetering point between Central and South Jersey. This causes some outliers it the calculations. Nevertheless, it seems the most appropriate separation of the counties where they would have most equal percentage of the total square mileage would be Central Jersey without Burlington or Warren County.

Wawa or Quick Check

It seems that since I was told the three-question equation to determine Central Jersey several years ago, Wawa has done a lot of expanding. Now a Wawa can be found as far North as Morris, Bergen, and Passaic Counties. However, there are still none in Sussex County.

Quick Check’s most Southern establishment is only in Ocean County and another establishment is in Burlington County on the northern most tip. It is therefore safe to say that the seven Southern Counties (including Burlington) still remain part of South Jersey, but the lines between North Jersey and Central Jersey are slightly blur do to this recently changed factor.

Hence this factor in regards to northern counties must be ignored, unless we are willing to define North Jersey as only Sussex County. The same must be said for the hoagie vs sub factor (curse Wawa for their delicious food and fantastic business model). However this factor can still be used in regards to the southern counties.

Conclusion

To determine where is Central Jersey, several different factors were used, which are slightly different from what we originally started with.

Local Intelligence – What residents consider to be Central Jersey based on belief and no mathematical factors. This was represented by determining how close each county is to “the city”.

Distance – The equal split of North, South, and Central Jersey in reference to the counties location on a map.

Square Mileage – The equal split of North, South, and Central Jersey in reference to the counties size on a map.

Wawa or Quick Check – How populated each convenient store is in relation to location

When evaluated by each factor, there are six counties which are consistent and hence can be defined as Central Jersey - Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex, Somerset, Mercer, and Hunterdon counties. Warren and Bergen County can debatably be included as well with Warren having a better claim than Burlington. But to find out for certain, you can just ask someone who lives there, “do you prefer hoagies or subs?”



