Document And Entity Information	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	May 09, 2014
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2014
Entity Registrant Name	CENTER BANCORP INC
Trading Symbol	CNBC
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Central Index Key	0000712771
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2014
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		16,401,762