Gloucester City is a city in Camden County, New Jersey, home to about 11,509 people across 2.3 square miles. Its ZIP code is 08030.
Homes sold for a median of $196 per square foot in the three months ending August 2026, a seller’s market.
Mostly Gloucester City; also Brooklawn
Each card is that ZIP code’s whole market, including any part outside Gloucester City. Seller’s market: under 4 months of supply; buyer’s market: over 6. Methodology
Gloucester City is one of the oldest European-founded places on the Delaware. Sometime between 1623 and 1627, New Netherland set up Fort Nassau on the river's east bank as a trading post for exchange with the Lenape. The fort later served to defend New Netherland's claim against the rival New Sweden colony, until Director-General Peter Stuyvesant abandoned it in 1651 in favor of Fort Casimir on the Delaware side. In 2015 the state historic preservation office also issued an opinion on a Native American archaeological historic district within the city.
After the area passed to English rule, Thomas Sharp laid out Gloucester Town in 1686, the same year Gloucester County was formed, and the town served as county seat until 1786, when a courthouse fire led to the seat's move to Woodbury. Hugg's Tavern was built on the riverbank in 1721, and in 1773 it was the likely site of the wedding of John Ross and Elizabeth Griscom, later known as Betsy Ross. A patent made Gloucester a township in December 1773, it joined the new Camden County in 1844, and the Legislature incorporated Gloucester City on February 25, 1868.
Industry arrived in the 1840s. The Washington Manufacturing Company broke ground on a cotton mill in July 1844 and began weaving in 1845, and its land company built brick boarding houses for mill workers nearby; the state historic preservation office lists the Gloucester City Mill Blocks, along Ellis, King, Hudson and Mercer streets, in its inventory of historic resources. Print works, an iron pipe works and a railroad to Camden and Mount Ephraim followed, and the city waterworks opened in 1884; its engine house on Johnson Boulevard is on the National Register. In the 20th century, shipyards took over the riverfront: Pusey & Jones built cargo ships and tankers at the mouth of Big Timber Creek during World War I, New York Shipbuilding expanded into the north end, and John Trumpy & Sons built patrol boats here in World War II. Shipbuilding ended in the 1960s, and parts of the old yards now handle cargo.
Gloucester City covers about 2.8 square miles, a little under half a square mile of it water, on the east bank of the Delaware River directly across from Philadelphia. It borders Camden, Brooklawn, Bellmawr, Mount Ephraim and Haddon Township in Camden County and Westville in Gloucester County, with Newton Creek toward its north end and Big Timber Creek at its south end. Locally used place names within the city include Highland Park, Gloucester Heights, Cloversdale and Newbold.
The housing is older and compact. A 2023 city redevelopment study found that most homes in its study areas are buildings of one to four units, many on lots narrower than today's 25-foot zoning minimum, which matters for anyone planning an addition. Apartment buildings are few in those areas; one is the Gloucester Towne building near the river. The study also notes the age and style of the city's housing as one of its assets.
Broadway, especially around its intersection with Market Street, and U.S. 130 are the main retail corridors. The city's master plan envisions King Street, close to the river, as a retail and entertainment corridor with waterfront access, and Market Street as the downtown gateway; the 2023 study examined four sub-areas along North King, South King and Market streets and a former school site. Parts of the South King Street area lie within mapped floodplains, and the waterfront also holds port and industrial uses. City offices are in the municipal building at 512 Monmouth Street, and the Gloucester City Public Schools serve pre-kindergarten through grade 12.
The Walt Whitman Bridge, opened on May 16, 1957, carries I-76 from Gloucester City across the Delaware to Philadelphia. I-76 runs along the north side of the city before turning south toward I-295 and Route 42, and U.S. 130 also passes through. A travel feature on the city puts the drive to downtown Philadelphia at about 20 minutes via the bridge, traffic permitting.
There is no rail station in the city. NJ Transit lists bus routes 408 and 410 between Gloucester City and Philadelphia, along with route 457, which runs between Moorestown Mall and Camden by way of Gloucester City. In Camden, the Walter Rand Transportation Center connects to PATCO trains into Center City and to the River LINE light rail.
The 2023 redevelopment study notes an existing sidewalk network in the city, and the plan for King Street calls for more walking and biking paths along the waterfront. Johnson Park along Newton Creek has its own walking and cycling trails.
Proprietors Park sits on the Delaware riverbank and takes in the site of Hugg's Tavern, torn down in the 1920s, with piers, playgrounds and room for fishing and picnics, and long views of ship traffic and the Philadelphia waterfront. On the opposite side of the city, Johnson Park along Newton Creek has a lake, walking and cycling paths, basketball courts, soccer and baseball fields, playgrounds and shaded picnic areas, and its slopes are used for sledding and tubing in snowy winters.
The Gloucester City Historical Society runs a museum at 34 North King Street, open Thursday evenings from 6 to 8 and on the first and third Saturdays of the month from 11 to 2. Its collection and research pages cover Fort Nassau, the Revolution, the ferries, the mills, shipbuilding, the rail and trolley era, the Coast Guard base and the city's part in early rock and roll. Nearby, the Gloucester City Water Works Engine House, built when the waterworks went in during 1883 and 1884, at Johnson Boulevard and Gaunt Street is listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places.
The riverfront may change in the coming years: the city's 2023 redevelopment study names Freedom Pier and the waterfront as key sites for mixed-use development, and the master plan calls for outdoor dining and waterfront access along King Street.
Researched and drafted from the public sources below. Updated October 2026. Spot something wrong or out of date? Tell us.
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Get matched| Nearest major airport | Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)7 miles away |
|---|---|
| Nearest city of 250,000+ | Philadelphia, PA8 miles away |
Straight-line distances from the center of Gloucester City; driving is longer.
Source: Airports from OurAirports (scheduled passenger service); city centers and populations from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Source: Members of Congress from the congress-legislators project; districts from the Census Bureau’s relationship files; governor and mayor from Wikidata.
Gloucester City had 11,484 residents in the 2020 census, up 0% since 2000.
It’s the 218th largest of 565 towns in New Jersey by population.
Camden County grew from 107,643 residents in 1900 to 523,485 in 2020.
Camden County, 1900–2020
Source: U.S. Census Bureau decennial censuses (counties 1900–1990 from the Bureau’s historical county file).
Average highs peak around 89°F in summer, and winter lows average 28°F. About 50.9 inches of rain and melted snow fall in a typical year, with about 16 inches of snow.
Source: NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Phila Franklin Inst, PA weather station (6 miles away).
190,853 jobs at 11,541 businesses in Camden County. The biggest industries by employees:
Source: U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 (private employers; jobs counted where people work).
28 doctors and other health care providers list an office in Gloucester City.
Nearest hospitals
Providers with an office here
| Primary care doctors | 6 |
|---|---|
| Dentists | 3 |
| Nurse practitioners and physician assistants | 6 |
| Mental health providers | 10 |
| Physical and occupational therapists | 1 |
| Optometrists | 1 |
| Chiropractors | 1 |
| Pharmacies | 6 |
Source: Hospitals from CMS Hospital General Information (ratings are CMS overall star ratings); straight-line distances; providers from the CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), by practice address and primary specialty.
Parks (7 nearby)
Grocery stores (1 nearby)
Pharmacies (1 nearby)
Libraries (1 nearby)
Museums (1 nearby)
Theaters and performance venues
Counts are within about 1 mile of the center of town.
Source: Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (openstreetmap.org/copyright), as mapped by volunteers; it can miss places or include closed ones.
Established in 1627.
Notable people born here
Source: Wikidata (wikidata.org), the free knowledge base; people are listed by place of birth.
Public schools here are run by Brooklawn Public School District, Gloucester City Public School District. Check each district’s attendance zones for a specific address.
| School | Grades | Students | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alice Costello Elementary SchoolBrooklawn | Pre-K–8 | 277 | Public | 0.9 mi |
| Cold Springs SchoolGloucester City | Pre-K–3 | 839 | Public | 0.3 mi |
| Gloucester City Middle SchoolGloucester City | 4–8 | 816 | Public | 0.4 mi |
| Gloucester City High SchoolGloucester City | 9–12 | 739 | Public | 0.5 mi |
| School | Grades | Students | Affiliation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gloucester CatholicGloucester City | 7–12 | 270 | Roman Catholic | 0.5 mi |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, NCES: Common Core of Data (2024-2025) for public schools; Private School Universe Survey (2023-2024) for private schools. Listed by address; we don’t rate schools.
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Shares ZIP codes with Brooklawn.
Town boundaries don’t always match ZIP codes: a ZIP code can cross into neighboring towns, and a town can share a ZIP code with its neighbors. Facts describe the town itself; market figures describe whole ZIP codes.