Lakewood Fire District (1)
Fire District · Ocean County
52 people are enrolled in a State pension fund through Lakewood Fire District (1), reporting a median pensionable salary of $69,251.
Lakewood Fire District (1), a fire district in Ocean County, operates under New Jersey's Title 11A civil service system rather than setting its own hiring rules independently.
Within Ocean County, 28 local government entities in total carry this same confirmed status.
About fire districts in New Jersey
A fire district is a special governmental unit, distinct from the municipality, created to fund and operate fire protection for a specific area. Some New Jersey towns have one fire district covering the whole municipality; others split into several districts, each with its own budget, commissioners, and personnel authority.
See all 28 civil service jurisdictions in Ocean County, or browse the full employer directory.
Who is on the pension rolls at Lakewood Fire District (1)
52 people are enrolled in a State-administered pension fund through Lakewood Fire District (1). 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| PFRS | Police and Firemen's Retirement System | 45 | 87% |
| PERS | Public Employees' Retirement System | 7 | 13% |
Within PFRS, the fund records 45 firefighters. PFRS enrolment is the only occupational detail this dataset carries; it lists no job titles, so nothing here says which civil service titles Lakewood Fire District (1) actually appoints.
Pensionable salary at Lakewood Fire District (1)
Half of the pension-enrolled workforce at Lakewood Fire District (1) reports a pensionable salary above $69,251 and half below, across 52 members with a reported figure.
| Point in the distribution | Pensionable salary |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $48,093 |
| 25th percentile | $53,387 |
| Median | $69,251 |
| 75th percentile | $103,985 |
| 90th percentile | $144,792 |
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 65th percentile, above the county's midpoint of $67,000. Against the 14 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 Lakewood Fire District (1)
The median enrolled member at Lakewood Fire District (1) has 6.5 years of credited service, with the middle half falling between 3.6 and 12.3 years. 8% 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 | 19 | 37% |
| 5 to 10 years | 17 | 33% |
| 10 to 15 years | 7 | 13% |
| 15 to 20 years | 5 | 10% |
| 20 to 25 years | 3 | 6% |
| 25 years or more | 1 | 2% |
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 Lakewood Fire District (1), 8% sit in the most recently hired cohort.
| Membership tier | Members | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 (longest-serving cohort) | 5 | 10% |
| Tier 2 | 3 | 6% |
| Tier 3 | 39 | 75% |
| Tier 4 | 1 | 2% |
| Tier 5 (most recently hired cohort) | 4 | 8% |
Other public employers in Lakewood Township
The pension system reports these separate public employers in Lakewood 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 |
|---|---|
| LAKEWOOD TWP BD OF ED | 782 |
| LAKEWOOD TOWNSHIP | 496 |
| LAKEWOOD TWP FIRE DISTRICT 1 (this page) | 52 |
| LAKEWOOD HOUSING AUTHORITY | 16 |
What civil service status means for jobs at Lakewood Fire District (1)
A fire district is a separate taxing and governing unit from the municipality, with its own board of fire commissioners and its own budget. Some New Jersey towns are covered by a single district; others are divided into several numbered districts, each hiring on its own account. That is why a district rather than a town appears in the Commission's listing.
Firefighter hiring runs through a statewide entry-level process rather than a local application, with physical performance testing and medical screening alongside the written component. Above the entry title the ladder is closed and promotional: lieutenant, captain, deputy chief and chief are filled by examination from among people already serving. Fire prevention and fire official titles run on a separate track tied to state certification.
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.
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.
Civil service employers in Lakewood Township
Lakewood Fire District (1) serves Lakewood Township, a township in Ocean County, but it is in the listing as a fire district on its own account rather than as part of the township government.
The Lakewood Township government is listed too: Lakewood Township. Both run under Title 11A, and both certify their own appointments, so applying to one tells you nothing about openings at the other.
One further Lakewood Township body is listed as well, which puts three separate civil service employers inside one town.
- Lakewood Municipal Utilities Authority, municipal utilities authority
Civil service titles used by New Jersey fire districts
Real classifications that New Jersey fire districts 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: Long Beach Township, Ocean County Board of Health, Ocean County Board of Social Services, Ocean County Library, Ocean County Mosquito Extermination, Point Pleasant Beach Borough, Point Pleasant Borough, Seaside Heights. See all 28 in Ocean County.
Common questions about Lakewood Fire District (1)
Is Lakewood Fire District (1) a civil service employer?
Yes. Lakewood Fire District (1) 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 Lakewood Fire District (1) cover the rest of Lakewood Township?
No. Lakewood 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.
Are there jobs here that never go through an examination?
Yes. Unclassified positions, which typically include department heads and confidential staff, are filled at the discretion of the appointing authority. Noncompetitive and labor titles inside the classified service are also filled without a competitive examination, though they still sit under civil service rules for things like layoff rights.
Do you have to live in New Jersey to work here?
Generally yes. The New Jersey First Act requires public employees hired after September 1, 2011 to live in the state, with a grace period for new hires to relocate and a narrow exemption process. Separately, individual examination announcements sometimes carry a local residency preference, which affects the order of the list rather than eligibility.
How many Lakewood Fire District (1) employees are in a State pension system?
52 active memberships are reported through Lakewood Fire District (1), split across 45 in PFRS and 7 in PERS. 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 Lakewood Fire District (1)?
$69,251, with the middle half of members between $53,387 and $103,985. 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 Lakewood Fire District (1) compare with the rest of Ocean County?
Its median pensionable salary of $69,251 sits at the 65th 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 Lakewood Fire District (1)?
The median enrolled member has 6.5 years of credited service, and 8% 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.