Firefighter residency preference and volunteer service credit

Passing the firefighter exam is the easy part to understand. Where you actually land on a list is governed by a stack of rules that reward residency, veteran status, and volunteer service, and that punish a badly timed move. This is the part of the process worth reading twice.

Your rank on a jurisdiction's list is not just your test score. It reflects residency tier, veterans preference, volunteer service credit, and, in a narrow case, being the child of a firefighter killed in the line of duty. Each one has its own rule.

Residency tiers

Hiring jurisdictions sort eligible candidates into tiers by where they legally live. Appointments work through the tiers in order, and a tier has to be exhausted before the next one is reached:

• Residents of the municipality.
• Residents of the county the municipality sits in.
• Residents of the state.
• All other qualified candidates.

Your residency is the single place you permanently live, which is not always your mailing address. It is fixed as of the closing date and cannot be changed afterward. One application can place you on several lists at once. If you live in a town that opens its list to county or state residents, you can appear on that town's list too, which is why filing once can reach more than one department.

The residency trap

Some jurisdictions require continuous residency, meaning you have to still live there at the time of appointment, not just on the closing date. This creates a trap the Fact Sheet spells out with an example. Suppose you live in one town that has both a resident preference and a continuous residency rule, you apply on the closing date, and then you move to a neighboring town a month later. The Commission will update your mailing address but not your residency code, because the code reflects where you lived on the closing date. You can be certified from your original town's list, then disqualified because you no longer live there. You also cannot be certified to the new town, because you did not live there on the closing date. Moving after you apply can leave you eligible for nothing, so treat the closing date as the day your address is locked.

Volunteer service credit

New Jersey rewards volunteer firefighting with points added to a passing score, under N.J.S.A. 40A:14-45 as the courts have interpreted it. The service has to be at least two years of continuous volunteering that immediately precedes the closing date. The points work on a simple formula, one point added to the number of years of service:

• Two years of service earns three points.
• Three years earns four points, and each additional year adds one more.
• Nine or more years earns the maximum of ten points.

There is no separate volunteer list. Volunteers and non-volunteers share one list per jurisdiction, and the credit is added to a volunteer's passing score. To receive the points you have to complete the volunteer portion of the application for the fire district or part-paid department where you currently serve, and your service is verified with that department.

Child of a firefighter killed in the line of duty

Under N.J.S.A. 40A:14-10.1a, the child of a firefighter killed in the line of duty is granted a hiring preference. It ranks ahead of non-veterans but not ahead of veterans, and it requires documentation. The Commission's firefighter documentation page lists what is acceptable.

Veterans preference and the age deduction

New Jersey gives qualified veterans an absolute preference, which places them at the top of an open competitive list once they pass. Veterans preference also feeds the age rule. The maximum hiring age is 35 for non-volunteer candidates, measured as of the closing date, and a candidate who turns 35 while already on a list stays eligible for the life of that list. Volunteers get an exception up to age 40, after which they cannot be appointed even on a live list. Separately, candidates can subtract qualifying military service from their actual age to meet the limit, but only service that falls within the periods and conditions the veterans preference rules define. The state veterans preference page sets out those periods.

Where this fits

All of this shapes the eligible list you land on. For how those lists are certified, ranked, and expired across Civil Service, see the eligibility lists guide. For the exam that gets you onto the list in the first place, go back to the main firefighter exam page.

Which jurisdictions hire paid firefighters

The 72 Civil Service jurisdictions with paid Fire Fighter positions listed on the 2026 Fire Fighter Fact Sheet, with the residency preference each one uses. Where a town has a page in our local jurisdictions directory, its name links to it.

Jurisdiction	County	Residency preference	Type
Asbury Park City	Monmouth	Asbury Park City	Full-time paid
Atlantic City	Atlantic	Atlantic City	Full-time paid
Bayonne City	Hudson	Bayonne City	Full-time paid
Belleville Township	Essex	Belleville Township	Full-time paid
Bergenfield Borough	Bergen	Bergenfield Borough	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Bloomfield Township	Essex	Bloomfield Township	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Bordentown Township	Burlington	Bordentown Township	Paid and volunteer (fire district)
Bridgeton City	Cumberland	Bridgeton City	Full-time paid
Burlington Township	Burlington	Burlington Township	Paid and volunteer (fire district)
Camden City	Camden	Camden City	Full-time paid
Cape May City	Cape May	Cape May City	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Carteret Borough	Middlesex	Carteret Borough	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Cinnaminson Township	Burlington	Cinnaminson Township	Paid and volunteer (fire district)
Clifton City	Passaic	Passaic & Essex Counties	Full-time paid
Delran Township	Burlington	Delran Township	Paid and volunteer (fire district)
Deptford Township	Gloucester	Deptford Township	Paid and volunteer (fire district)
Dover Town	Morris	Dover Town	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
East Orange City	Essex	East Orange City	Full-time paid
Edgewater Park Township	Burlington	Edgewater Park Township	Full-time paid
Elizabeth City	Union	Elizabeth City	Full-time paid
Ewing Township	Mercer	Ewing Township	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Florence Township	Burlington	Florence Township	Paid and volunteer (fire district)
Gloucester City	Camden	Gloucester City	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Gloucester Township	Camden	Gloucester Township	Paid and volunteer (fire district)
Hackensack City	Bergen	Hackensack City	Full-time paid
Hamilton Township	Mercer	Hamilton Township	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Harrison Town	Hudson	Essex & Hudson Counties	Full-time paid
Hillside Township	Union	Hillside Township	Full-time paid
Hoboken City	Hudson	Hoboken City	Full-time paid
Irvington Township	Essex	Irvington Township	Full-time paid
Jackson Township	Ocean	Jackson Township	Paid and volunteer (fire district)
Jersey City	Hudson	Jersey City	Full-time paid
Kearny Town	Hudson	Kearny Town & Newark City	Full-time paid
Lakewood Township	Ocean	Lakewood Township	Paid and volunteer (fire district)
Lawrence Township	Mercer	Lawrence Township	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Linden City	Union	Linden City	Full-time paid
Long Branch City	Monmouth	Long Branch City	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Maple Shade Township	Burlington	Maple Shade Township	Full-time paid
Margate City	Atlantic	Margate City	Full-time paid
Millburn Township	Essex	Union, Morris, & Essex Counties	Full-time paid
Millville City	Cumberland	Millville City	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Morristown Town	Morris	Morristown Town	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Mount Laurel Township	Burlington	Mount Laurel Township	Paid and volunteer (fire district)
New Brunswick City	Middlesex	New Brunswick City	Full-time paid
Newark City	Essex	Newark City	Full-time paid
North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue	—	Guttenberg, North Bergen, Union City, Weehawken, & West New York	Full-time paid
North Wildwood City	Cape May	North Wildwood City	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Nutley Township	Essex	Nutley Township	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Ocean City	Cape May	Ocean City	Full-time paid
Orange City	Essex	Orange City	Full-time paid
Passaic City	Passaic	Passaic City	Full-time paid
Paterson City	Passaic	Paterson City	Full-time paid
Pennsauken Township	Camden	Pennsauken Township	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Perth Amboy City	Middlesex	Perth Amboy City	Full-time paid
Plainfield City	Union	Plainfield City	Full-time paid
Pleasantville City	Atlantic	Pleasantville City	Full-time paid
Rahway City	Union	Rahway City	Full-time paid
Ridgewood Village	Bergen	Ridgewood Village	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Roselle Borough	Union	Roselle Borough	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Runnemede Borough	Camden	Runnemede Borough	Full-time paid
South Essex Fire Department	Essex	South Orange & Maplewood	Full-time paid
Teaneck Township	Bergen	Teaneck Township	Full-time paid
Trenton City	Mercer	Trenton City	Full-time paid
Union Township	Union	Union Township	Full-time paid
Ventnor City	Atlantic	Ventnor City	Full-time paid
Vineland City	Cumberland	Vineland City	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Voorhees Township	Camden	Voorhees Township	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
West Orange Township	Essex	West Orange Township	Full-time paid
Wildwood City	Cape May	Wildwood City	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Willingboro Township	Burlington	Willingboro Township	Paid and volunteer (municipal)
Winslow Township	Camden	Winslow Township	Paid and volunteer (fire district)
Woodbridge Township	Middlesex	Woodbridge Township	Paid and volunteer (fire district)

Fire districts with paid firefighters

The Fact Sheet also names the specific numbered fire districts within these townships that employ paid firefighters (25 districts across 12 townships).

• Bordentown Township (Burlington) — Districts 1, 2
• Burlington Township (Burlington) — Districts 1
• Cinnaminson Township (Burlington) — Districts 1
• Delran Township (Burlington) — Districts 1
• Deptford Township (Gloucester) — Districts 1
• Florence Township (Burlington) — Districts 1
• Gloucester Township (Camden) — Districts 2, 4, 5, 6
• Jackson Township (Ocean) — Districts 2, 3, 4
• Lakewood Township (Ocean) — Districts 1
• Mt. Laurel Township (Burlington) — Districts 1
• Winslow Township (Camden) — Districts 1
• Woodbridge Township (Middlesex) — Districts 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12

Source: NJ Civil Service Commission 2026 Fire Fighter Fact Sheet, announcement M9999H.

Frequently asked questions

Related: New Jersey firefighter jobs and the Fire Fighter exam · The New Jersey firefighter physical performance test · The Fire Fighter and EMT dual title · All New Jersey public safety exams