Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Bridgeton earns a D−, 463rd among New Jersey's 466 graded towns, mostly because of health and safety. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 98% of the country. Its crime rate is higher than 96% of U.S. towns, with 204 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. In its favor, it has 7 miles of trail. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 99% of U.S. towns, with 6 places on the National Register. 27% of residents live below the poverty line in Bridgeton, where New Jersey’s towns sit at 6% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. On incomes, just 8 of New Jersey’s 530 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Potter's Tavern and Gen. James Giles House.
Where Bridgeton beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Potter's Tavern| Widest gap | Bridgeton | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 23.6% | 7% |
Census counts: 6,830 in 1870, 27,263 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1770 and 4 maps from 1890 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Bridgeton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bridgeton, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Bridgeton.
Bridgeton carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding), but it reports violent crime at 4 times the New Jersey rate and has poverty well above the New Jersey rate.
36% of Bridgeton adults say their health is fair or poor. Among 468 New Jersey towns, just 1 have a higher share of adults who report frequent mental distress than Bridgeton. 19% of Bridgeton adults report frequent physical distress.
| Bridgeton | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 15% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 11% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 47% | 28% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 15% | 17% |
| What stands out | Bridgeton | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.9% | 7.5% |
| Fewer adults with high cholesterol | 35% | 39.3% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 23.6% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Each of its 3 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its D−, Hopewell Township highest at C−.
Its public schools are run by the Bridgeton City School District. Two of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broad Street SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 784 | D− |
| Bridgeton High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,641 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Violent crime runs at 7.3 per 1,000 residents, 4 times the New Jersey rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Property crime runs at 27.2 per 1,000 residents, about twice the New Jersey rate, most of it theft.
The violent crime rate in Bridgeton is 7.3 per 1,000 residents. Bridgeton reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 96% report less. The property crime rate in Bridgeton is 27.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Bridgeton | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 27.2 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The median property tax bill is $4,110, against $9,590 across New Jersey, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Bridgeton home is worth about $251,000, about the same as a year ago, 56% below the New Jersey typical home. 36% of households own their home in Bridgeton.
| Bridgeton | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 36% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,340 a month | $1,780 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
6.9 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Bridgeton’s trail density is 1.1 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Bridgeton City Park, 332 acres with 5.2 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bridgeton City Park | 5.2 mi | 332 |
| 2. Mary Elmer Woods | 1.1 mi | 30 |
| 3. Cohansey River Wildlife Management Area | 0.4 mi | 71 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 92% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $158 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1980, 9 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bridgeton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Bridgeton has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 25° and about 12 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Bridgeton for work: only 14% work in town. Jobs based in Bridgeton fell to 5,964 in 2023, 866 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Vineland (13%), Upper Deerfield Township (6%) and Millville (4%).
| Bridgeton | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $56,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1 within 15 miles of the center of Bridgeton
About 4 of every 100 Bridgeton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
6 places in Bridgeton on the National Register of Historic Places.
25 notable people were born in Bridgeton.
City in Cumberland County, New Jersey, US
Bridgeton is a city in Cumberland County, within the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the county seat of Cumberland County and is located on the Cohansey River near Delaware Bay in the South Jersey region of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 27,263, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 1,914 (+7.6%) from the 25,349 recorded at the 2010 census, which in turn reflected an increase of 2,578 (+11.3%) from the 22,771 counted in the 2000 census. Bridgeton and Vineland are the two principal cities of the Vineland-Bridgeton metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses those cities and all of Cumberland County for statistical purposes and whi…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Bridgeton.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgeton | #463 | D− | C− | D− | D− | D− |
| Fairfield Township | #464 | D− | C− | — | D | D |
| Hopewell Township | #411 | D | C | — | C− | D |
| Upper Deerfield Township | #443 | D− | D | — | D | D |
| Sunset Lake | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Gouldtown | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Fairfield Township, Hopewell Township and Upper Deerfield Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Sunset Lake and Gouldtown aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bridgeton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bridgeton grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns and #463 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades D− for health, D− for safety and D− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. That is 3.7 years of the area's median household income ($67,436 across the Vineland, NJ metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
25 notable people were born here, including Lester Russell Brown and Frank LoBiondo.
