Morris County area

Morris County, New Jersey covers 481.5 square miles: 461 square miles of land and 20.5 square miles of water. Its county seat is Morristown. An estimated 524,251 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 340272026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area461 mi²
Water area20.5 mi²
Population (2025)524,251
People per mi²1,137

County outline

Generalized outline of Morris County, New Jersey
2025 Census cartographic boundary, fitted to this frame. County maps are not at a common scale. The 2026 area measurements below come from the separate Gazetteer release. Map source and limitations.

Where Morris County is located

Morris County highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 95.7% of Morris County’s measured area and water for 4.3%. Its combined area converts to 1,247.2 square kilometers or approximately 308,178 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land461.0271,194.054295,057.3
Water20.50153.09713,120.6
Total481.5281,247.152308,177.9

How Morris County compares

By original Census land area, Morris County ranks #7 of 21 in New Jersey and #2227 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.432 times the New Jersey county-equivalent median of 322 square miles. It accounts for 6.3% of the combined county land area in the state.

See the complete New Jersey ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?

Population and density of Morris County

The Census Bureau estimates that 524,251 people lived in Morris County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #144 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #10 of 21 in New Jersey. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 509,293, the population has grown by 14,958 (+2.9%), compared with +2.8% for New Jersey as a whole.

With 461 square miles of land, that is 1,137 people per square mile (439 per km²), placing Morris County #160 nationally for density and #11 in New Jersey. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the New Jersey median is 1,137. Put another way, there are about 0.563 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate508,211510,240511,860516,902521,355524,251
Change—+2,029+1,620+5,042+4,453+2,896

U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.

Cities and towns in Morris County

Morris County is divided into 39 municipalities and townships. In New Jersey, county subdivisions are local governments, and together they cover all of the county’s land and residents.

The most populous is Parsippany-Troy Hills township, with 56,633 residents (10.8% of the county). The largest by land is Washington township, at 44.6 mi², or 9.7% of the county’s land. The county seat, Morristown town, has 20,750 residents. Among those with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Netcong borough grew fastest since then (+16.3%).

County subdivisionPopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²Share of county land
Parsippany-Troy Hills township56,633+0.9%23.65.1%
Mount Olive township29,503+2.1%29.66.4%
Rockaway township27,728+9.3%41.79.1%
Randolph township26,878+1.6%20.94.5%
Montville township24,469+9%18.64%
Morris township23,730+3.2%15.73.4%
Roxbury township23,427+2.1%20.84.5%
Morristown townCounty seat20,750+2.8%2.9090.6%
Jefferson township20,703+0.8%398.5%
Dover town18,919+2.5%2.6760.6%
Washington township18,309+0.7%44.69.7%
Denville township17,424+1.7%122.6%
Madison borough16,607−2.1%4.3120.9%
Pequannock township15,750+1.1%6.7731.5%
Hanover township15,105+2.9%10.52.3%
Show the other 24 subdivisions
NamePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Florham Park borough14,456+15.1%7.314
East Hanover township11,457+3.2%7.875
Chatham township11,282+2.7%9.077
Lincoln Park borough10,950+0.4%6.398
Kinnelon borough10,138+1.5%18
Chatham borough10,027+8.9%2.343
Boonton town8,920+1.1%2.342
Long Hill township8,684+0.7%11.8
Butler borough8,184+2%2.034
Chester township7,795+1%29.1
Wharton borough7,618+5.3%2.079
Rockaway borough6,631+0.8%2.076
Morris Plains borough6,586+7.2%2.554
Mendham township6,075+0.7%17.8
Mount Arlington borough5,985+1.2%2.142
Mendham borough4,985+0.5%5.93
Mountain Lakes borough4,649+3.9%2.644
Boonton township4,432+0.8%8.129
Mine Hill township4,160+3.9%2.936
Riverdale borough4,144+0.8%2.026
Harding township3,949+1.7%20.1
Netcong borough3,924+16.3%0.832
Chester borough1,689+1.1%1.593
Victory Gardens borough1,596+0.8%0.145

Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each subdivision inside Morris County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer. How communities are listed.

Metropolitan area

Morris County is a central county of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area, in the Newark, NJ metropolitan division. Its 22 county equivalents have 20,112,448 residents on 6,139.7 square miles of land; Morris County accounts for 7.5% of the land and 2.6% of the residents. By combined land it ranks #34 of 393 metropolitan areas, and #1 by population. It belongs to the New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area.

County equivalentPopulation 2025Land mi²
Kings CountyNew York2,653,96369.4
Queens CountyNew York2,358,182108.7
New York CountyNew York1,664,86222.7
Suffolk CountyNew York1,546,090910.9
Bronx CountyNew York1,406,33242.2
Nassau CountyNew York1,398,939284.5
Westchester CountyNew York1,015,743430.8
Bergen County977,026232.8
Essex County896,379126.1
Middlesex County883,335309.3
Hudson County735,03346.2
Ocean County673,746628.3
Monmouth County651,035468.2
Union County601,863102.8
Passaic County531,624186.1
Morris County524,251461
Richmond CountyNew York501,29057.5
Rockland CountyNew York357,397173.7
Somerset County356,486301.9
Sussex County148,063518.5
Hunterdon County131,781427.8
Putnam CountyNew York99,028230.3

ZIP codes

58 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Morris County; 50 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

07005070340703507045070460705407058070820740507435074380744007444074570746007801078030782807830078340783607840078420784707849078500785207853078560785707865078660786907870078760787807885079200792607927079280793007931079320793307934079350793607940079450794607950079600796107970079760798007981

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Lighter codes have less than half of their land in this county. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.

Counties bordering Morris County

Morris County shares a land border with 7 county equivalents. It has more land than 6 of them. The largest neighbor is Sussex County (518.5 mi²) and the smallest is Union County (102.8 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Morris County forms a block of 2,480.8 mi² of land, of which it holds 18.6%.

Map of Morris County and the 7 county equivalents that border it Somerset County, New Jersey: 301.9 mi² landSussex County, New Jersey: 518.5 mi² landPassaic County, New Jersey: 186.1 mi² landEssex County, New Jersey: 126.1 mi² landWarren County, New Jersey: 356.5 mi² landHunterdon County, New Jersey: 427.8 mi² landUnion County, New Jersey: 102.8 mi² land
Morris County (dark) and its bordering county equivalents. Select a neighbor to open its profile. Drawn from the 2025 Census cartographic boundaries in an equal-area projection. How borders are determined.
Bordering county equivalentLand mi²Size vs. MorrisCompare
Sussex County518.51.1× largerCompare
Hunterdon County427.81.1× smallerCompare
Warren County356.51.3× smallerCompare
Somerset County301.91.5× smallerCompare
Passaic County186.12.5× smallerCompare
Essex County126.13.7× smallerCompare
Union County102.84.5× smallerCompare

How big is Morris County compared with U.S. states?

Morris County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 2.2 times as much. New Jersey’s county land could hold about 16 areas the size of Morris County.

Land area: Morris County and the closest-sized states
Morris County461 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 21.5 miles (34.6 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.

State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.

What stands out about Morris County?

Morris County has more land than 995 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Morris County461 mi²
New Jersey median322 mi²
National median604.5 mi²

A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.

Does including water change its rank?

Using land plus water places Morris County at #2,240 nationally by total area, 13 places farther from the top than its land rank. Other county equivalents gain more area when their water measurements are included.

Its water share is 4.3%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 3.1 percentage points higher. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.

Closest positions in the national land ranking

These entries sit immediately beside Morris County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#2226Lamoille County, Vermont461.3Compare
#2227Morris County, New Jersey461This county
#2228Stewart County, Tennessee459.8Compare

Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.

Representative coordinates

The Census internal point is 40.858896, -74.547292. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.

Source and precision

U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 1,194,054,342 m²; AWATER: 53,097,705 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.

Download the official county source ZIP ↗ · Methodology

Common questions

How big is Morris County?

Morris County, New Jersey has 461 square miles (1,194.1 km²) of land and 20.5 square miles of water, for a total area of 481.5 square miles. It ranks #2227 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Morris County the largest county in New Jersey?

No. Morris County ranks #7 of 21 in New Jersey by land area. The largest is Burlington County, with 799.3 square miles of land.

What counties border Morris County?

Morris County shares a land border with Somerset County, Sussex County, Passaic County, Essex County, Warren County, Hunterdon County, and Union County.

What is the population of Morris County?

The Census Bureau estimates Morris County had 524,251 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #144 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 1,137 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Morris County?

The county seat of Morris County is Morristown.

What cities and towns are in Morris County?

Morris County has 39 county subdivisions (cities, towns and townships). The most populous five are Parsippany-Troy Hills township, Mount Olive township, Rockaway township, Randolph township, and Montville township.

Is Morris County part of a metropolitan area?

Yes. It is a central county of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has 22 county equivalents and 20,112,448 residents.

How many ZIP codes are in Morris County?

58 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Morris County, and 50 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

How does Morris County compare with U.S. states?

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 2.2 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Morris County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 295,057 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 308,178 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.

Why might another source show a different area?

Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.

Can this establish a property boundary?

No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.

Cite this county

Download the complete CSV or JSON dataset