Sussex County
County Government · Sussex County
485 people are enrolled in a State pension fund through Sussex County, reporting a median pensionable salary of $53,445.
As a county government in Sussex County, Sussex County falls under New Jersey's Title 11A civil service system, which governs competitive hiring, classification, and promotion for its employees.
It is one of 17 confirmed civil service jurisdictions in Sussex County.
About county governments in New Jersey
New Jersey's 21 counties run services that cross municipal lines: courts, county roads, parks, corrections, and often social services. A county's civil service status covers its own direct employees; the municipalities inside it each make their own separate decision about whether to join the system.
See all 17 civil service jurisdictions in Sussex County, or browse the full employer directory.
Who is on the pension rolls at Sussex County
485 people are enrolled in a State-administered pension fund through Sussex County. 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 | 415 | 86% |
| PFRS | Police and Firemen's Retirement System | 70 | 14% |
Within PFRS, the fund records 70 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 Sussex County actually appoints.
1 of these members holds 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 Sussex County.
Pensionable salary at Sussex County
Half of the pension-enrolled workforce at Sussex County reports a pensionable salary above $53,445 and half below, across 485 members with a reported figure.
| Point in the distribution | Pensionable salary |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $36,108 |
| 25th percentile | $45,609 |
| Median | $53,445 |
| 75th percentile | $68,113 |
| 90th percentile | $95,939 |
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 13 civil service jurisdictions in the same county with pension data, that median sits at the 23rd percentile, below the county's midpoint of $63,156. Against the 20 bodies of the same kind statewide, it sits at the 10th 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 Sussex County
The median enrolled member at Sussex County has 8.6 years of credited service, with the middle half falling between 3.5 and 19.3 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 | 175 | 36% |
| 5 to 10 years | 93 | 19% |
| 10 to 15 years | 48 | 10% |
| 15 to 20 years | 55 | 11% |
| 20 to 25 years | 75 | 15% |
| 25 years or more | 39 | 8% |
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 Sussex County, 59% sit in the most recently hired cohort.
| Membership tier | Members | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 (longest-serving cohort) | 145 | 30% |
| Tier 2 | 13 | 3% |
| Tier 3 | 39 | 8% |
| Tier 4 | 4 | 1% |
| Tier 5 (most recently hired cohort) | 284 | 59% |
What civil service status means for jobs at Sussex County
A county government is among the largest employers in this directory, and its civil service status reaches across the county jail, the road and bridge crews, the parks system, the clerk and surrogate offices, and in most counties a share of health and human services staff.
Several county titles have no municipal equivalent at all. County correctional police officer is the clearest case: its own entry examination, its own academy requirement, and its own closed promotional ladder up through sergeant, lieutenant and captain. A county's status also stops at its own payroll, which is why a county can operate under Title 11A while most towns inside it do not.
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.
Not every position at a civil service employer is competitive. The classified service is divided into competitive, noncompetitive and labor titles, and above that sits the unclassified service, which covers department heads, confidential aides and similar positions filled without an examination. Which division a title sits in decides how you get it, so read the specification before assuming there is an exam.
Countywide civil service employers in Sussex County
Sussex County is the county government itself, so its civil service status covers county employees rather than anyone working for a town inside the county. Municipalities, libraries, authorities and districts each decide separately, and most of the county's towns are not in the listing at all.
One other countywide body in Sussex County is in the listing as well. They are separate employers with separate hiring, and a candidate list certified to one is not certified to another.
- Andover Board of Health, board of health
Civil service titles used by New Jersey county governments
Real classifications that New Jersey county governments 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 Sussex County
Sussex County holds 17 confirmed jurisdictions in the Commission's listing: 12 municipalities, 3 boards of health, 1 county government, and 1 public library.
12 of the county's 24 municipalities are among them.
Also in the directory: Green Township, Hampton Township, Hampton Township Board of Health, Hopatcong, Newton, Ogdensburg Borough, Sparta Library, Sparta Township. See all 17 in Sussex County.
Common questions about Sussex County
Is Sussex County a civil service employer?
Yes. Sussex County 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.
Can you challenge an examination result?
Yes. Eligibility determinations, examination scoring and list placement can be appealed to the Civil Service Commission, and there are filing deadlines measured from the date of the notice rather than from when you happen to see it. The appeal route is the reason the notices matter: missing the window generally forecloses the argument.
Is the job specification the same everywhere?
Yes, and that is the point of the classification system. A title has one specification statewide, covering the definition of the work, the education and experience requirements, and any licence the title depends on. That is what makes experience gained at one civil service employer legible to another, even in a different county.
How many Sussex County employees are in a State pension system?
485 active memberships are reported through Sussex County, split across 415 in PERS and 70 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 Sussex County?
$53,445, with the middle half of members between $45,609 and $68,113. 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 Sussex County compare with the rest of Sussex County?
Its median pensionable salary of $53,445 sits at the 23rd percentile among the 13 civil service jurisdictions in Sussex County with pension data, where the midpoint jurisdiction reports $63,156. Local pay is set by ordinance rather than a State schedule, so spreads inside one county are wide.
How long do people stay at Sussex County?
The median enrolled member has 8.6 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.