Versatile Real Estate Appraisers offer statewide coverage throughout the entire state of New Jersey.  Our appraisers in Morris county are more than familiar with the area and qualified to complete an acurate appraisal product.  Below is informtion about  Morris County, New Jersey.

Location in the state of New Jersey

New Jersey's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded March 15, 1739
Seat Morristown
Largest city Parsippany-Troy Hills
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water
481 sq mi (1,246 km²)
469 sq mi (1,215 km²)
12 sq mi (31 km²), 2.55%
Population
 - (2000)
 - Density
470,212
1,002/sq mi (387/km²)

Morris County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about 25 mi (40 km) west of New York City. As of the United States 2000 Census, the population was 470,212, and grew to 493,160 as of the Census Bureau's 2006 estimate.[1]. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Morristown[2].

Morris County was the sixth-wealthiest county in the United States by median household income, and ranked tenth by per capita income. [3] It is the ninth-wealthiest county in the United States by personal per-capita income, the highest rank in New Jersey. [4] The county ranked third in the New York Metropolitan area in terms of median income.[5]

History
The area of Morris County was inhabited by the Lenape prior to the coming of the Europeans.

Morris County was created on March 15, 1739, from portions of Hunterdon County.[6] The county was named for the Governor of the Province of New Jersey, Colonel Lewis Morris.[7] In later years Sussex County (on June 8, 1753) and Warren County (on November 20, 1824, from portions of Sussex County) were carved out of what had been the original area of Morris County.[6]

 Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 481 square miles (1,247 km²), of which, 469 square miles (1,215 km²) of it is land and 12 square miles (32 km²) of it (2.55%) is water.

The county rises in elevation and relief from east to west, with only the more developed eastern suburbs in the Passaic River valley being relatively level. The highest point is at 1,395 feet (425 m) above sea level in the Mahlon Dickerson Reservation in Jefferson Township; the lowest point is about 140 feet (42.6 m) in elevation, at Two Bridges, the confluence of the Passaic and Pompton rivers.

Adjacent counties include
Sussex County, New Jersey - north
Passaic County, New Jersey - northeast
Essex County, New Jersey - east
Union County, New Jersey - east
Somerset County, New Jersey - south
Hunterdon County, New Jersey - southwest
Warren County, New Jersey - west

National protected areas
Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (part)
Morristown National Historical Park

Government
 
Morris County in 1853Morris County is governed by a seven-member Board of Chosen Freeholders. The members are elected at large to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats coming up for election each year. The Freeholder Board sets policies for the operation of six super-departments, more than 30 divisions plus authorities, commissions, boards and study committees. Actual day-to-day operation of departments is supervised by the county administrator.

The Board of Chosen Freeholders has been granted broad powers by the state legislature to regulate almost all county property, finances and affairs. The Freeholder Board's duties include preparing and adopting the county budget; authorizing expenditures and bonds; appointing county officials and members to boards, commissions and authorities; passing on all claims against the county, and supervising the administration of county government.

The Freeholders are the center of legislative and administrative responsibility in Morris County and, as such, perform a dual role. As legislators they draw up and adopt a budget, and in the role of administrators they are responsible for spending the funds they have appropriated. Many of these duties in Morris County have been delegated by the Board of Chosen Freeholders to the county administrator.

As of 2007, Morris County's Freeholders are Margaret Nordstrom (Freeholder Director), John Inglesino (Freeholder Deputy Director), Douglas R. Cabana, William J. Chegwidden, Gene F. Feyl, John J. Murphy and Jack Schrier.[8]

The Morris Automated Information Network, which supplies Internet service to area libraries, turned down $10,000 per year in federal funding, starting in 2004. Acceptance of the grants would have required the network to install anti-porn content filters to comply with the Children's Internet Protection Act. As these filters excluded legitimate information — such as pages with the word "breast" in online searches regarding "breast cancer" — the network declined to accept these grants.[9]

Another organization having the power to affect the county budget without county governmental control is the Morris County Board of Taxation, a.k.a. the Morris County Tax Board. "[T]he freeholders, and county government in general, do not have control over tax board spending.... [T]he tax board is an entity of state government, even though it submits expense vouchers to county government."[10]

 Taxation
Based on IRS data for the 2004 tax year, Morris County had the tenth highest average federal income tax liability per return in the country Average tax liability was $15,296, representing 16.3% of Adjusted Gross Income.[11]

Economy

[edit] Personal income
Morris County has the third highest median household income in the nation ($77,340).[12] According to the County 2000 Census:

Median income for a household = $77,340
Median income for a family = $89,773
Median income for males = $60,165
Median income for females = $40,065
Per capita income = $36,964
Families below the poverty line = 2.40%
Population below the poverty line= 3.90%
Under age 18 below the poverty line = 3.70%
Age 65 or over, below the poverty line = 5.30%

Business

Fifty-three Fortune 500 businesses have headquarters, offices or a major facility in Morris County. These include AT&T, Honeywell, Colgate-Palmolive, Warner Lambert, Exxon, Novartis, BASF, Bayer and Wyeth.[13] Major industries include finance, insurance, real estate, pharmaceuticals, health services, research and development, and technology. There are 13,000 acres (53 km²) set aside for 28 county parks. Four county golf courses and 16 public and private courses are in Morris.

[edit] Demographics
Historical populations
Census Pop.   %±
1790 16,216  —
1800 17,750  9.5%
1810 21,828  23%
1820 21,368  −2.1%
1830 23,666  10.8%
1840 25,844  9.2%
1850 30,158  16.7%
1860 34,677  15%
1870 43,137  24.4%
1880 50,861  17.9%
1890 54,101  6.4%
1900 65,156  20.4%
1910 74,704  14.7%
1920 82,694  10.7%
1930 110,445  33.6%
1940 125,732  13.8%
1950 164,371  30.7%
1960 261,620  59.2%
1970 383,454  46.6%
1980 407,630  6.3%
1990 421,353  3.4%
2000 470,212  11.6%
Est. 2006 493,160 [1] 4.9%
historical census data source: [14][15]
 
Morris County in 1872As of the census[16] of 2000, there were 470,212 people, 169,711 households, and 124,907 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,003 people per square mile (387/km²). There were 174,379 housing units at an average density of 372 per square mile (144/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 87.20% White, 2.80% Black or African American, 0.12% Native American, 6.26% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.01% from other races, and 1.56% from two or more races. 7.79% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 21.5% were of Italian, 14.5% Irish, 10.6% German, 5.5% Polish and 5.5% English ancestry according to Census 2000.

In 2005 78.5% of Morris County's population was non-Hispanic whites. African Americans constituted 3.1% of the population. 8.0% of the population was Asian. 1.0% of the population reported two or more races. These figures did not include any people in the category "Some other race". Latinos were 9.7% of the population, all except 0.5% of whom classified as white.[17].

In 2000 There were 169,711 households out of which 35.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.80% were married couples living together, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.40% were non-families. 21.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.80% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 31.90% from 25 to 44, 25.30% from 45 to 64, and 11.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.70 males.

There are large Hispanic communities in Dover and Morristown; Parsippany-Troy Hills has a large Asian American population. There are fairly equal numbers of Irish American and German American residents. The Jewish American community is strong in specific areas, such as Randolph and Morristown. Lincoln Park (26.7%), Montville (26.8%), East Hanover (41.8%), Pequannock Township (29.2%), and Riverdale (33.5%) have significant Italian American populations, along with other northern and eastern communities, while the rest of the county is more mixed with populations of Irish and German ancestries. Wharton (20.8%), Denville (25.1%), and Mine Hill (23.5%) are particularly Irish American.

Education

The County College of Morris is a two-year public community college serving students from Morris County. The school's campus is in Randolph and was founded in 1965. Another two-year college, the private Roman Catholic women's college Assumption College for Sisters, is in Mendham.

The Florham Park-Madison-Convent Station area is also the home of three universities. The College at Florham, a campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University, is located on the border of these three towns. Drew University is a small, private university in Madison. The College of Saint Elizabeth is a private Roman Catholic, four-year, liberal arts women's college located in Convent Station.

  Municipalities

Indexed map of Morris County municipalities (click to see index key)The following is a list of the municipalities in Morris County. Other, unincorporated areas in the county are listed below their parent municipality (or municipalities, as the case may be). Most of these areas are census-designated places that have been created by the United States Census Bureau for enumeration purposes within a township. Other communities and enclaves that exist within a municipality are marked with an asterisk (*) next to the name.

Boonton Township
Boonton
Butler
Chatham
Chatham Township
Chester
Chester Township
Denville Township
Indian Lake*
Union Hill*
Cedar Lake*
Estling Lake*
Dover
East Hanover Township
Florham Park
Hanover Township
Cedar Knolls*
Whippany*
Harding Township
Green Village*
New Vernon*
Jefferson Township
Picatinny Arsenal*
Kinnelon
Lincoln Park
Long Hill Township
Gillette*
Meyersville*
Millington*
Stirling*
Madison Borough
Mendham
Mendham Township
Brookside*
Ralston*
Pleasant Valley*
Mine Hill Township
Montville Township
Pine Brook*
Towaco*
 Morris Plains
Morris Township
Collinsville*
Convent Station*
Washington Valley*
Morristown
Mount Arlington
Mount Olive Township
Budd Lake
Flanders*
Mountain Lakes
Netcong
Parsippany-Troy Hills Township
Greystone Park*
Lake Hiawatha*
Lake Parsippany*
Parsippany*
Troy Hills*
Pequannock Township
Pompton Plains*
Randolph Township
Mount Freedom*
Riverdale
Rockaway Township
Hibernia*
Lake Telemark*
White Meadow Lake*
Green Pond*
Picatinny Arsenal*
Rockaway
Roxbury Township
Landing*
Ledgewood*
Port Morris*
Succasunna-Kenvil
Victory Gardens
Washington Township
Long Valley
Wharton