[14] Many prominent Americans associated with New Jersey have proven influential nationally and globally, including in academia, advocacy, business, entertainment, government, military, non-profit leadership, and other fields.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the state's economy has become highly diversified, with major sectors including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, information technology, finance, and tourism, and it has become an Atlantic seaboard epicenter for logistics and distribution.

[31] The winter quarters of the Continental Army were established in New Jersey twice by General George Washington in Morristown, which has been called "The Military Capital of the American Revolution.

[36] New Jersey voters eventually ratified the constitutional amendments banning slavery and granting rights to the United States' black population.

New Jersey was one of the few Union states (the others being Delaware and Kentucky) to select a candidate other than Abraham Lincoln twice in national elections, and sided with Stephen A. Douglas (1860) and George B. McClellan (1864) during their campaigns.

Despite its heavily urban character and a long history of industrialization, forests cover roughly 45 percent of New Jersey's land area, or approximately 2.1 million acres (8,500 km2), ranking 31st among the 50 U.S. states and six territories.

Climatologists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have concluded that New Jersey has been the fastest-warming state by average air temperature over a 100-year period beginning in the early 20th century.

[82] Conversely, New Jersey's poverty rate of 9.4% was slightly lower than the national average of 11.4%,[82] and the sixth lowest of the fifty states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

[112] Central New Jersey, particularly Edison and surrounding Middlesex County, has the highest concentration of Indians, at nearly 20% in 2020; Little India is the largest and most diverse South Asian cultural hub in the United States.

[182] In November 2023, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law legislation eliminating testing for prospective teachers in reading, writing, and math, replacing it with an alternative certification process.

[193][194] New Jersey consistently ranks as having one of the highest proportional levels of disparity of any state in the U.S., based upon what it receives from the federal government relative to what it pays.

[200] New Jersey has a strong scientific economy and is home to major pharmaceutical and telecommunications firms, drawing on the state's large and well-educated labor pool, including one of the highest concentrations of engineers and other scientists in the world.

New Jersey's location at the center of the Eastern North American population belt has made the state a prime hub for the logistics, warehousing, and supply chain management industries.

[216] New Jersey is a growing center for filmmaking and television production,[217] with media companies, enticed by its proximity to Manhattan, in conjunction with tax incentives, collectively spending billions of dollars to develop large new studio facilities and sound stage complexes.

Jersey City's Hudson River waterfront, from Exchange Place to Newport, is known as Wall Street West[226] and has over 13 million square feet of Class A office space.

[230] In 2014, Forbes magazine moved its headquarters to the district, having been awarded a $27 million tax grant in exchange for bringing 350 jobs to the city over a ten-year period.

[233] New Jersey is seventh in the nation in solar power installations,[234] enabled by one of the country's most favorable net metering policies and renewable portfolio standard.

New Jersey is the birthplace of many modern inventions, including FM radio, the motion picture camera, the lithium battery, the light bulb, transistors, and the electric train.

Other New Jersey creations include: the drive-in movie, the cultivated blueberry, cranberry sauce, the boardwalk, the zipper, the phonograph, saltwater taffy, the dirigible, the seedless watermelon,[243] the first use of a submarine in warfare, and the ice cream cone.

[253] New Jersey is known for several foods developed within the region, including Taylor Ham (also known as pork roll), sloppy joe sandwiches, tomato pies, salt water taffy, and Texas wieners.

New Jersey is one of the top 10 producers of blueberries, cranberries, peaches, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, apples, spinach, squash, and asparagus in the United States.

While the team was poor to mediocre in Kansas City, Denver, and its first years in New Jersey, qualifying for the playoffs once in the 13 seasons from 1974 to 1987, the Devils ultimately established themselves in late 1980s and early 1990s during the tenure of Hall of Fame president and general manager Lou Lamoriello.

The organization is the youngest of the nine "Big Four" major league teams based in New York metropolitan area, ultimately establishing its core following throughout the northern and central portions of the state and carving a place in a media market once dominated by the New York Rangers and Islanders which has the distinction of being the only metropolitan area in the country with three major league professional sports teams participating in the same sport.

The annual inter-conference rivalry game between Seton Hall and Rutgers, whose venue alternates between Newark and Piscataway, the Garden State Hardwood Classic, is planned through 2026.

Among the various Division III schools in the state, the Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks have fielded the longest continuously running collegiate men's lacrosse program in the country.

Previously a gubernatorial vacancy would be filled by the president of the New Jersey State Senate as acting governor, thus directing half of the legislative and all of the executive process.

They also hear appeals on decisions made by the director of the Division of Taxation on such matters as state income, sales and business taxes, and homestead rebates.

Tax Court judges are appointed by the governor for initial terms of seven years, and upon reappointment are granted tenure until they reach the mandatory retirement age of 70.

The act provides many choices for communities with a preference for a strong executive and professional management of municipal affairs and offers great flexibility in allowing municipalities to select the characteristics of its government: the number of seats on the council; seats selected at-large, by wards, or through a combination of both; staggered or concurrent terms of office; and a mayor chosen by the council or elected directly by voters.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker was elected in October 2013 to join Robert Menendez to make New Jersey the first state with concurrently serving black and Latino U.S.