Carteret, New Jersey

**Carteret** is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 25,326, an increase of 2,482 (+10.9%) from the 2010 census count of 22,844, which in turn reflected an increase of 2,135 (+10.3%) from the 20,709 counted in the 2000 census.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Carteret had a total area of , including  of land and  of water (11.0%).

## Education

The Carteret School District serves students in pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2021-2022 school year, the district's five schools had an enrollment of 3,882 students and 305.42 classroom teachers. The student/teacher ratio is 12.71.

## Government

The government has a town council with 6 members and a mayor. They all are elected.

## Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Carteret include:
- Jim Babjak (born 1957), Dennis Diken (born 1957) and Mike Mesaros of the pop/rock group The Smithereens are former Carteret residents who met in school there.
- Lori Baratta, artist; her portraits of past and present mayors and other famous people from Carteret hang on the walls in City Hall.
- Joseph A. Cafasso (born 1956), former Fox News consultant on military and counterterrorism issues who left the network after allegations surfaced that he misrepresented his military record.
- Jim Conti of the ska band Streetlight Manifesto.
- Thomas Deverin (1921–2010), former mayor of Carteret who served 22 years in the New Jersey General Assembly.
- Keith Hughes (1968-2014), basketball player at Syracuse University and Rutgers who was selected by the Houston Rockets in the 1991 NBA Draft, but never played in the NBA.
- Chad Kinch (1958–1994), shooting guard who played in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks.
- Jim McGreevey (born 1957), former Governor of New Jersey, grew up in Carteret.
- Art McMahon, defensive back for the New England Patriots football team from 1968-1972.
- Joe "Ducky" Medwick (1911–1975), left fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals during the "Gashouse Gang" era of the 1930s, elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1968, by the Veterans Committee. Ranked #7 on the _Sports Illustrated_ list of _The 50 Greatest New Jersey Sports Figures_.
- Nicholas Minue (d. 1943) United States Army Private who received the Medal of Honor for military service in World War II. An elementary school on Post Boulevard in Carteret is named in his honor.
- Paul J. Pluta, Rear Admiral, United States Coast Guard (Ret.)
- Joel Weisman (1943-2009), physician who was one of the first to identify a pattern of illnesses that was ultimately diagnosed as AIDS.
- Laurence S. Weiss (c. 1919 - 2003), business executive and politician wh served in the New Jersey Senate from 1978 to 1992.
- Jason Worilds (born 1988), football player selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2010 NFL Draft.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Carteret, New Jersey
- **settlement type**: Borough (New Jersey), Borough
- **motto**: The Center of it All
- **image skyline**: Carteret Waterfront.JPG
- **imagesize**: 250x200px
- **image caption**: Carteret Waterfront Park
- **image map**: Middlesex County New Jersey Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Carteret Highlighted.svg
- **mapsize**: 250x200px
- **map caption**: Location of Carteret in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County highlighted in red (left). Inset map: Location of Middlesex County in New Jersey highlighted in orange (right).
- **image map1**: Census Bureau map of Carteret, New Jersey.png
- **mapsize1**: 250x200px
- **map caption1**: Census Bureau map of Carteret, New Jersey.png
- **pushpin map**: USA New Jersey Middlesex County#USA New Jersey#USA
- **pushpin label**: Carteret
- **pushpin map caption**: Location in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County##Location in New Jersey##Location in the United States
- **pushpin relief**: yes
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **subdivision type1**: U.S. state, State
- **subdivision type2**: List of counties in New Jersey, County
- **subdivision name2**: Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex
- **government type**: Borough (New Jersey), Borough
- **governing body**: Borough Council
- **leader title**: Mayor / City manager, Borough administrator
- **leader title1**: Municipal clerk
- **established title**: Municipal corporation, Incorporated
- **established date**: April 11, 1906 (as _Roosevelt_)
- **established title1**: Renamed
- **established date1**: November 7, 1922 (as _Carteret_)
- **named for**: George Carteret and
Philip Carteret (colonial governor), Philip Carteret
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **area total km2**: 12.77
- **area land km2**: 11.37
- **area water km2**: 1.40
- **area total sq mi**: 4.93
- **area land sq mi**: 4.39
- **area water sq mi**: 0.54
- **area water percent**: 11.53
- **area rank**: 276th of 565 in state
15th of 25 in county
- **population as of**: 2020 United States census, 2020
- **population total**: 25326
- **population rank**: 104th of 565 in state
12th of 25 in county
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population density sq mi**: 5767.7
- **population density rank**: 96th of 565 in state
8th of 25 in county
- **timezone**: Eastern Time Zone, Eastern (EST)
- **utc offset**: −05:00
- **timezone dst**: Eastern (EDT)
- **utc offset dst**: −04:00
- **elevation ft**: 13
- **postal code type**: ZIP Code
- **postal code**: 07008
- **area code**: Area codes 732 and 848, 732/848
- **blank name**: Federal Information Processing Standards, FIPS code
- **blank info**: 3402310750
- **blank1 name**: Geographic Names Information System, GNIS feature ID
- **blank1 info**: 0885181