Berkeley Township
Municipality · Ocean County
229 people are enrolled in a State pension fund through Berkeley Township, reporting a median pensionable salary of $60,380.
As a municipality in Ocean County, Berkeley Township falls under New Jersey's Title 11A civil service system, which governs competitive hiring, classification, and promotion for its employees.
It is one of 28 confirmed civil service jurisdictions in Ocean County.
About municipalities in New Jersey
New Jersey has 564 municipalities, and each one decides for itself whether to operate under Title 11A. A municipality that adopts civil service hires and promotes employees through competitive exams administered by the state; one that hasn't sets its own local hiring rules instead.
Berkeley Township Police Department — discipline and transparency records via PoliceTransparencyNJ
See all 28 civil service jurisdictions in Ocean County, or browse the full employer directory.
Who is on the pension rolls at Berkeley Township
229 people are enrolled in a State-administered pension fund through Berkeley Township. That is a count of active memberships reported by the employer, not a payroll headcount: anyone not enrolled in one of these funds does not appear in this data at all, and no separate headcount for a New Jersey local employer is published anywhere we can check against.
| Fund | Name | Members | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| PERS | Public Employees' Retirement System | 156 | 68% |
| PFRS | Police and Firemen's Retirement System | 73 | 32% |
Within PFRS, the fund records 73 police officers. PFRS enrolment is the only occupational detail this dataset carries; it lists no job titles, so nothing here says which civil service titles Berkeley Township actually appoints.
4 of these members hold a second public job in New Jersey: their reported salary across all public employers exceeds what they are paid here. Shared and part-time appointments are common in local government, and the salary figures below count only the portion earned at Berkeley Township.
Pensionable salary at Berkeley Township
Half of the pension-enrolled workforce at Berkeley Township reports a pensionable salary above $60,380 and half below, across 229 members with a reported figure.
| Point in the distribution | Pensionable salary |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $35,991 |
| 25th percentile | $44,147 |
| Median | $60,380 |
| 75th percentile | $81,704 |
| 90th percentile | $105,274 |
The range runs from the 10th to the 90th percentile because the extremes are not informative: the lowest reported figures belong to part-time and partial-year members, whose credited salary is a fraction of a full-time equivalent.
Among the 23 civil service jurisdictions in the same county with pension data, that median sits at the 26th percentile, below the county's midpoint of $67,000. Against the 194 bodies of the same kind statewide, it sits at the 13th percentile.
These figures are pensionable salary reported to the NJ Division of Pensions and Benefits for the four most recent quarters, not total pay and not take-home pay. Snapshot of March 31, 2026. How we compile this.
How long people stay at Berkeley Township
The median enrolled member at Berkeley Township has 10 years of credited service, with the middle half falling between 4.1 and 18.8 years. 24% have passed twenty years, which matters locally because retirement eligibility and the pension formula both turn on service credit.
| Credited service | Members | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under 5 years | 71 | 31% |
| 5 to 10 years | 41 | 18% |
| 10 to 15 years | 45 | 20% |
| 15 to 20 years | 17 | 7% |
| 20 to 25 years | 33 | 14% |
| 25 years or more | 22 | 10% |
Membership tier records which pension rules a member was hired under, so the mix is a rough picture of how recently a workforce turned over. At Berkeley Township, 45% sit in the most recently hired cohort.
| Membership tier | Members | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 (longest-serving cohort) | 59 | 26% |
| Tier 2 | 9 | 4% |
| Tier 3 | 56 | 24% |
| Tier 4 | 1 | 0% |
| Tier 5 (most recently hired cohort) | 104 | 45% |
Other public employers in Berkeley Township
The pension system reports these separate public employers in Berkeley Township. Each is its own employer for pension purposes, and only some are civil service jurisdictions — school boards, charter schools and parking authorities are ordinary public employers that were never part of Title 11A. Names link only where the body appears in this directory.
| Employer | Enrolled members |
|---|---|
| BERKELEY TWP BD OF ED | 354 |
| BERKELEY TOWNSHIP MUNICIPAL BL (this page) | 229 |
| BERKELEY TWP SEWERAGE AUTHORIT | 20 |
| BERKELEY_TOWNSHIP MUNI UTIL AU | 9 |
| BERKELEY TWP HOUSING AUTHORITY | 3 |
What civil service status means for jobs at Berkeley Township
In a municipality that operates under Title 11A, the mayor, administrator or governing body still decides which positions exist and who gets appointed to them. What changes is the route in. Most permanent positions have to be filled from a list of candidates who took and passed an open competitive examination.
That flips the usual job hunt around. For a competitive title you announce yourself by filing for the exam when it is posted, not by dropping a resume at the municipal building. Municipal employers also run the widest mix of titles in this directory: police and fire, public works and sanitation, code enforcement and construction inspection, tax collection, clerical support, recreation, and dispatch.
A permanent appointment starts with a working test period. You hold the title, you draw the salary, and you can still be released for unsatisfactory performance without the full removal process. Permanent status, and the job protection that comes with it, begins only once that period is completed satisfactorily.
Promotional examinations are closed. They are open to employees already serving in the unit, scored on a combination of the examination and seniority, and they are how most supervisory positions in local government get filled. It is the main reason entry-level appointments matter so much: they are the door to the ladder above them.
Civil service employers in Berkeley Township
Berkeley Township appears in the Commission's listing in its own right, so the township government is the appointing authority for its own classified staff.
One other Berkeley Township body is listed separately: Berkeley School District, a school district. It is a distinct employer with its own hiring, so a job there is not a job with the township, and permanent status earned at one does not carry to the other.
- Berkeley School District, school district
Civil service titles used by New Jersey municipalities
Real classifications that New Jersey municipalities draw on, each linked to its official specification: the definition of the work, the requirements, and any licence the title depends on. A sample of the system rather than a roster or a list of openings.
Civil service coverage across Ocean County
Ocean County holds 28 confirmed jurisdictions in the Commission's listing: 16 municipalities, 3 fire districts, 2 school districts, 2 municipal utilities authorities, 1 board of health, 1 board of social services, 1 county government, 1 public library, and 1 mosquito extermination commission.
16 of the county's 33 municipalities are among them.
Ocean County is a jurisdiction too, though a county's decision does not bind the towns, authorities, libraries or districts inside it.
Also in the directory: Beachwood Borough, Berkeley School District, Brick Fire District (1), Brick School District, Brick Township, Jackson Fire Districts (3), Jackson Municipal Utilities Authority, Jackson Township. See all 28 in Ocean County.
Common questions about Berkeley Township
Is Berkeley Township a civil service employer?
Yes. Berkeley Township appears in the New Jersey Civil Service Commission's listing of local civil service system jurisdictions as of July 2024, which makes it an appointing authority under Title 11A. Permanent appointments to competitive titles there come from eligible lists the Commission certifies, rather than from purely local hiring.
Does civil service status at Berkeley Township cover the rest of Berkeley Township?
No. Berkeley Township has more than one employer in the listing, and each holds its own status, runs its own examinations and keeps its own eligible lists. Seniority and permanent status earned at one do not transfer automatically to another, even inside the same town.
Does the state salary schedule apply to local jobs?
No. The salary schedules in the Compensation Compendium cover state employees. A local employer sets its own pay through ordinance and its own collective bargaining, so two towns using the identical civil service title can pay very differently. The title specification is statewide; the money attached to it is local.
How long does it take to get hired through this process?
Longer than an ordinary job application, and the timing is not in the hands of the employer. An announcement has to close, the examination has to be held and scored, the eligible list has to be promulgated, and only then can the employer request a certification. Several months between filing and an appointment is normal rather than a sign that something has gone wrong.
How many Berkeley Township employees are in a State pension system?
229 active memberships are reported through Berkeley Township, split across 156 in PERS and 73 in PFRS. This counts pension enrolment rather than payroll, so employees who are not in one of these funds are not included.
What is the median pensionable salary at Berkeley Township?
$60,380, with the middle half of members between $44,147 and $81,704. These figures are pensionable salary reported to the NJ Division of Pensions and Benefits for the four most recent quarters, not total pay and not take-home pay. It excludes overtime and most supplemental pay, and it is before tax, before the member's own pension contribution and before health premiums.
How does pay at Berkeley Township compare with the rest of Ocean County?
Its median pensionable salary of $60,380 sits at the 26th percentile among the 23 civil service jurisdictions in Ocean County with pension data, where the midpoint jurisdiction reports $67,000. Local pay is set by ordinance rather than a State schedule, so spreads inside one county are wide.
How long do people stay at Berkeley Township?
The median enrolled member has 10 years of credited service, and 24% have passed twenty years. Credited service drives both retirement eligibility and the pension formula, so a long-tenured workforce usually means fewer open competitive appointments in the near term.