Sussex, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sussex, New Jersey
Borough
Intersection of Route 23 and Route 284
Seal
Map of Sussex County highlighting Sussex Borough. Inset: Location of Sussex County in the State of New Jersey.
Census Bureau map of Sussex, New Jersey
Sussex, New Jersey Location in Sussex County, New Jersey Show map of Sussex County, New Jersey Sussex, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Sussex, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Sussex
Incorporated	October 14, 1891 as Deckertown
Renamed	March 2, 1902 as Sussex
Named for	Sussex, England
Government
• Type	Borough
• Body	Borough Council
Area
• Total	0.62 sq mi (1.62 km2)
• Land	0.59 sq mi (1.54 km2)
• Water	0.03 sq mi (0.08 km2)  5.00%
Area rank	536th of 565 in state 23rd of 24 in county
Elevation	449 ft (137 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,024
• Estimate  (2023)	2,050
• Rank	484th of 565 in state 20th of 24 in county
• Density	3,412.8/sq mi (1,317.7/km2)
• Density rank	198th of 565 in state 1st of 24 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	07461
Area code(s)	973 exchanges: 702, 875
FIPS code	3403771670
GNIS feature ID	0885414
Website

Sussex is a borough in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 2,024, a decrease of 106 (−5.0%) from the 2010 census count of 2,130, which in turn reflected a decline of 15 (−0.7%) from the 2,145 counted in the 2000 census.

Sussex was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on October 14, 1891, as Deckertown, from portions of Wantage Township. The borough's original name was for settler Peter Decker. The borough was renamed Sussex on March 2, 1902. The county and borough are named for the historic county of Sussex in England.

A joint commission of residents of both Sussex and Wantage had recommended that the two communities should be consolidated to form what would be called the Township of Sussex-Wantage, which would operate within the Faulkner Act under the council-manager form of government, with a mayor and a six-member township council, and that voters in both municipalities should approve a referendum to be held on November 3, 2009. The committee noted that the two municipalities share common issues, schools, library and community services and that the artificial nature of the octagonal Sussex border often made it hard to distinguish between the two. The efforts at consolidation with surrounding Wantage Township ended in November 2009 after Wantage voters rejected the merger despite support from Sussex borough residents.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Sussex borough had a total area of 0.62 square miles (1.62 km²), including 0.59 square miles (1.54 km²) of land and 0.03 square miles (0.08 km²) of water (5.00%). It is approximately 400 to 450 feet (120 to 140 m) above sea level. The borough is completely surrounded by Wantage Township, making it part of 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another.

The borough is in the watershed of the Wallkill River (which flows north, and empties into the Rondout Creek, which flows into the Hudson River near Kingston, New York) and its tributary Glen Brook, which near Sussex forms a small body of water called Clove Lake, part of which is within the borough.

Climate

Due to its inland location and elevation, Sussex has a climate much cooler than most of the state, classified as humid continental (Köppen Dfa, closely bordering on Dfb), with cold, moderately snowy winters, and very warm, humid summers. It is part of USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 25.8 °F (−3.4 °C) in January to 71.8 °F (22.1 °C) in July. Temperatures reach 90 °F (32 °C) on 13.4 days and fall to 0 °F (−18 °C) on 5.2 nights annually. Snowfall averages 38.7 inches (98 cm) per season, although this usually varies widely from year to year. Extremes in the temperature range from −29 °F (−34 °C) on January 21, 1994 up to 106 °F (41 °C) on July 10, 1936.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 2,130 people, 899 households, and 525 families in the borough. The population density was 3,615.9 per square mile (1,396.1/km²). There were 1,005 housing units at an average density of 1,706.1 per square mile (658.7/km²). The racial makeup was 91.03% (1,939) White, 1.92% (41) Black or African American, 0.33% (7) Native American, 2.30% (49) Asian, 0.42% (9) Pacific Islander, 1.36% (29) from other races, and 2.63% (56) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.93% (169) of the population.

Of the 899 households, 26.8% had children under the age of 18; 36.8% were married couples living together; 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present and 41.6% were non-families. Of all households, 36.9% were made up of individuals and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 3.04.

22.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 28.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.7 years. For every 100 females, the population had 100.9 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 98.2 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $40,978 (with a margin of error of +/− $13,975) and the median family income was $53,125 (+/− $10,034). Males had a median income of $40,234 (+/− $9,777) versus $30,777 (+/− $3,942) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $20,887 (+/− $2,314). About 13.0% of families and 15.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.4% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Students in public school for kindergarten through eighth grade attend the Sussex-Wantage Regional School District, together with students from Wantage Township. As of the 2019–20 school year, the district, comprised of three schools, had an enrollment of 1,049 students and 99.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.6:1. Schools in the district (with 2019–20 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Clifton E. Lawrence School in Wantage, with 376 students in grades K–2, Wantage Elementary School in Wantage, with 340 students in grades 3–5 and Sussex Middle School in Sussex, with 328 students in grades 6–8.

For ninth through twelfth grades, public school students from both Sussex and Wantage attend High Point Regional High School, together with students from Branchville, Frankford Township, Lafayette Township and Montague Township. As of the 2019–20 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 866 students and 76.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.3:1. Seats on the high school district's nine-member board of education are allocated based on the population of the constituent municipalities, with two seats assigned to Sussex.

Sussex Christian School is an inter-denominational Christian private day school that was founded in 1958 by members of the Sussex Christian Reformed Church, and which serves students from Northern New Jersey and the surrounding communities in New York and Pennsylvania.

Transportation

Route 23 northbound in Sussex

Roads and highways

As of May 2010^[update], the borough had a total of 9.21 miles (14.82 km) of roadways, of which 6.67 miles (10.73 km) were maintained by the municipality, 0.87 miles (1.40 km) by Sussex County and 1.67 miles (2.69 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Sussex is located at the intersection of Route 23 and Route 284.

Public transportation

Local bus service is provided by the Skylands Connect bus, which provides service to Hamburg, Sparta, and Newton.

Sussex Airport is located 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of Sussex.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Sussex include:

• Grant Decker (1814–1890), first mayor of Flint, Michigan
• Paul W. Downs (born 1982), actor, writer, and director best known for his portrayal of Trey Pucker on the Comedy Central series Broad City
• D. C. Fontana (1939–2019), television script writer and story editor, best known for her work on the original Star Trek franchise and several western television series
• Bill Glynn (1925–2013), Major League Baseball first baseman who played four seasons of professional baseball for the Cleveland Indians and the Philadelphia Phillies
• William Alexander Linn (1846–1917), journalist and historian
• Homer Mensch (1914–2005), classical bassist

See also

In Spanish: Sussex (Nueva Jersey) para niños