Camden, New Jersey

Camden is a city in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828. Camden has been the county seat of Camden County since the county's formation on March 13, 1844. The city derives its name from Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden. Camden is made up of over 20 neighborhoods, and is part of the South Jersey region of the state.

The initial growth of Camden industrially is often credited to the “big three” employers of Camden: RCA Victor, Campbell's Soup Company and New York Shipbuilding Corporation. The "big three" felt compelled to move away from Camden in the mid-to-late-20th century as they could find cheaper workers elsewhere. Though the city has declined in recent decades since the decline of heavy industry in the area and white flight to the suburbs, the city has made efforts to revitalize itself through various infrastructure and community projects.

Projects such as the redevelopment of the waterfront area brought three tourist attractions to the area: the USS New Jersey, the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion and the Adventure Aquarium. The city is the home of Rutgers University–Camden, which was founded as the South Jersey Law School in 1926, and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, which opened in 2012. Camden also houses both Cooper University Hospital and Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. Camden County College and Rowan University also have campuses in downtown Camden. The "eds and meds" institutions account for roughly 45% of Camden's total employment.

Once known for violent crime, the restructuring of the police force in 2013 has been credited for its decline. As of January 2021, violent crime was down 46% from its high in the 1990s and at the lowest level since the 1960s. Overall crime reports in 2020 were down 74% compared to 1974, the first year of uniform crime-reporting in the city.