Garfield
Municipality · Bergen County
136 people are enrolled in a State pension fund through Garfield, reporting a median pensionable salary of $73,917.
Garfield is a confirmed New Jersey civil service jurisdiction — a municipality in Bergen County that has adopted Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes to govern how it hires, classifies, and promotes employees.
Bergen County has 50 confirmed civil service jurisdictions in total, including this one.
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.
Garfield Police Department — discipline and transparency records via PoliceTransparencyNJ
See all 50 civil service jurisdictions in Bergen County, or browse the full employer directory.
Who is on the pension rolls at Garfield
136 people are enrolled in a State-administered pension fund through Garfield. 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 | 68 | 50% |
| PFRS | Police and Firemen's Retirement System | 68 | 50% |
Within PFRS, the fund records 68 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 Garfield actually appoints.
2 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 Garfield.
Pensionable salary at Garfield
Half of the pension-enrolled workforce at Garfield reports a pensionable salary above $73,917 and half below, across 136 members with a reported figure.
| Point in the distribution | Pensionable salary |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $33,728 |
| 25th percentile | $49,745 |
| Median | $73,917 |
| 75th percentile | $161,172 |
| 90th percentile | $175,849 |
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 25 civil service jurisdictions in the same county with pension data, that median sits at the 28th percentile, below the county's midpoint of $80,210. Against the 194 bodies of the same kind statewide, it sits at the 50th 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 Garfield
The median enrolled member at Garfield has 10.7 years of credited service, with the middle half falling between 4.7 and 18.7 years. 20% 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 | 36 | 26% |
| 5 to 10 years | 30 | 22% |
| 10 to 15 years | 21 | 15% |
| 15 to 20 years | 22 | 16% |
| 20 to 25 years | 13 | 10% |
| 25 years or more | 14 | 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 Garfield, 29% sit in the most recently hired cohort.
| Membership tier | Members | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 (longest-serving cohort) | 39 | 29% |
| Tier 2 | 7 | 5% |
| Tier 3 | 50 | 37% |
| Tier 5 (most recently hired cohort) | 40 | 29% |
Other public employers in Garfield
The pension system reports these separate public employers in Garfield. 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 |
|---|---|
| GARFIELD CITY BD OF ED | 685 |
| GARFIELD CITY (this page) | 136 |
| GARFIELD HOUSING AUTHORITY | 16 |
What civil service status means for jobs at Garfield
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.
When there is no eligible list for a title, an employer can fill the job provisionally. Provisional service is real work at real pay, but it builds no permanent rights, and the employer is supposed to request an examination so the position can be filled permanently. Anyone appointed provisionally who wants to keep the job needs to take that examination when it comes.
Permanent employees carry layoff rights. In a layoff, rights are determined by permanent status and seniority within the affected unit, displacement into another title can be available, and laid-off employees go onto a special reemployment list that takes priority when the title is filled again. None of that applies to provisional or temporary service.
Civil service employers in Garfield
Garfield City appears in the Commission's listing in its own right, so the city government is the appointing authority for its own classified staff.
One other Garfield body is listed separately: Garfield Library, a public library. It is a distinct employer with its own hiring, so a job there is not a job with the city, and permanent status earned at one does not carry to the other.
- Garfield Library, public library
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 Bergen County
Bergen County holds 50 confirmed jurisdictions in the Commission's listing: 21 municipalities, 20 public libraries, 4 boards of health, 1 board of social services, 1 county government, 1 housing authority, 1 school district, and 1 municipal utilities authority.
21 of the county's 70 municipalities are among them.
Bergen 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: Lodi Borough, Lodi Housing Authority, Lodi Library, Lodi School District, Moonachie Borough, North Arlington Board of Health, North Arlington Borough, North Arlington Library. See all 50 in Bergen County.
Common questions about Garfield
Is Garfield a civil service employer?
Yes. Garfield 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 Garfield cover the rest of Garfield?
No. Garfield 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.
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.
Does permanent status transfer to another civil service employer?
Not automatically. Permanent status belongs to a title at a particular appointing authority, so moving to another jurisdiction usually means a new appointment and a new working test period. Intergovernmental transfers between civil service employers are possible in the same or a comparable title, but they need agreement on both sides rather than being a right you can exercise.
How many Garfield employees are in a State pension system?
136 active memberships are reported through Garfield, split across 68 in PERS and 68 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 Garfield?
$73,917, with the middle half of members between $49,745 and $161,172. 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 Garfield compare with the rest of Bergen County?
Its median pensionable salary of $73,917 sits at the 28th percentile among the 25 civil service jurisdictions in Bergen County with pension data, where the midpoint jurisdiction reports $80,210. Local pay is set by ordinance rather than a State schedule, so spreads inside one county are wide.
How long do people stay at Garfield?
The median enrolled member has 10.7 years of credited service, and 20% 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.