Passaic County, New Jersey

Passaic County is a county in New Jersey, United States, about 15 miles northwest of Midtown
Manhattan. It had a population of 524,118 at the 2020 census, an estimated 521,012 by 2024, and
covers 198.39 square miles (513.8 km2) centred near 41°02′N 74°18′W.

Paterson is the county seat and largest city; its postal code is 07501. The county holds 16
municipalities — 3 cities, 3 townships and 10 boroughs — and no unincorporated
territory, since every parcel of land in New Jersey belongs to one municipality or another. It
runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 34031.

Towns & Villages in Passaic County

Passaic County has 16 municipalities on record, all of them incorporated: 3 cities, 3
townships and 10 boroughs. New Jersey has no county-level unincorporated land, so this list is
complete — there are no CDPs or rural crossroads left off it.

Little Falls and Woodland Park share the same 07424 ZIP code, and Haledon, North Haledon and
Prospect Park all fall under Paterson-area 07508/07538 delivery — none of the three has its
own dedicated code. Woodland Park was called West Paterson until residents voted to rename the
borough, effective 1 January 2009.

ZIP Codes

• 07501–07505, 07509–07514, 07522, 07524, 07533, 07543, 07544 — Paterson
• 07508, 07538 — also serve Haledon, North Haledon and Prospect Park
• 07011, 07012, 07013, 07014, 07015 — Clifton
• 07055 — Passaic
• 07470, 07474 — Wayne
• 07480 — West Milford (village center); 07435 Newfoundland, 07438 Oak Ridge and 07421
  Hewitt cover its outlying sections
• 07424 — Little Falls and Woodland Park
• 07442 — Pompton Lakes
• 07456 — Ringwood
• 07511, 07512 — Totowa
• 07403 — Bloomingdale
• 07506, 07507 — Hawthorne
• 07420, 07465 — Wanaque, split between the Haskell and Wanaque post offices

Every municipality in the county has at least one ZIP code of its own or shares one with an
immediate neighbor — unlike many rural counties, Passaic has no hamlet served only by a
rural route.

Geography

Passaic County straddles the boundary between New Jersey’s urbanized Piedmont lowland in the
south and the forested Highlands region in the north. Of its 198.39 square miles, 186.01 are land
and 12.38 are water, about 6.2 percent — high for the state, driven mainly by the Wanaque
Reservoir and Pompton Lake in the county’s northern half. West Milford alone covers more than 40
percent of the county’s total area, most of it Newark’s protected Pequannock River Watershed
land, while the southern cities of Paterson, Clifton and Passaic are almost entirely built up.
The Passaic River runs the length of the county from West Milford to Little Falls, dropping 77
feet over the Great Falls in downtown Paterson.

Bergen County borders the county to the east, Essex County lies to the south, and Morris
County lies to the southwest and west; Orange and Rockland counties in New York border
Passaic to the north. Bergen County,
Essex County and
Morris County each have a
page on this site; the two New York counties do not.

Demographics

Passaic County had a population of 524,118 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
the county near 521,012 residents. Paterson and Clifton are by far the two largest communities,
together holding just under half the county’s population. Median household income runs $87,522
(2024 estimate), below New Jersey’s statewide figure of $99,781 (2023 ACS). Population density
works out to roughly 2,818 people per square mile of land, among the highest of any county in the
state, driven by Paterson’s dense urban core.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 34,954 people,
followed by retail trade at 30,569 and manufacturing at 27,418. St. Joseph’s University Medical
Center in Paterson is one of the county’s largest hospitals and teaching sites. William Paterson
University, in Wayne, enrolls more than 11,500 students and is a major local employer in its own
right. Wayne was also long a corporate address: Toys “R” Us ran its U.S. headquarters there until
the retailer’s 2018 closure. The Botto House in Haledon, now the American Labor Museum, anchors
the county’s labor history. The county’s biggest annual event is the Passaic County Peruvian Day
Parade through Paterson each July, one of the largest Peruvian community parades in the United
States.

History

New Jersey’s legislature formed Passaic County on 7 February 1837, carving it out of Bergen
and Essex counties. The name comes from Pasaeck, a Lenape word meaning valley. Paterson,
established in 1791 by Alexander Hamilton and the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures,
was sited specifically to harness the Great Falls of the Passaic River for water-powered
industry, and it became the county seat.

During the 1913 Paterson silk strike, city officials banned strikers from holding public
meetings within Paterson, so organizers moved their rallies across the line into neighboring
Haledon, whose mayor allowed it. Labor leaders including Big Bill Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley
Flynn addressed thousands of workers from the balcony of the Botto House there. The Great Falls
themselves were designated Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, the National Park
Service’s 397th unit, on 7 November 2011.

Getting There

Interstate 80 crosses the county’s southern half through Wayne, Woodland Park, Totowa and
Paterson. Route 3, Route 4, Route 20, Route 23 and the Garden State Parkway, which clips the
county through Clifton, provide the other main highway links.

• New York City — about 15 miles east
• Newark — about 12 miles southeast
• Hackensack — about 10 miles east
• Morristown — about 15 miles southwest

Newark Liberty International Airport, about 20 miles southeast of Paterson, is the nearest
major commercial airport; Teterboro Airport, roughly 10 miles east in Bergen County, handles
general aviation and charter traffic. NJ Transit’s Main and Bergen County Lines stop at Paterson
and Hawthorne, connecting to Hoboken and Newark Penn Station, where Amtrak service continues on
to New York and points south.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Passaic County located?
It sits in northern New Jersey, about 15 miles northwest of Manhattan, bordered by Bergen, Essex
and Morris counties.

What is the population of Passaic County?
524,118 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 521,012.

How big is Passaic County?
198.39 square miles (513.8 km2), of which 186.01 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Passaic County?
Paterson, founded in 1791, is the county seat and largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Passaic County?
16 municipalities — 3 cities (Paterson, Clifton, Passaic), 3 townships (Wayne, West
Milford, Little Falls) and 10 boroughs, including Hawthorne, Ringwood and Wanaque.

What ZIP codes does Passaic County use?
07501–07514 and related codes for Paterson, 07011–07015 for Clifton, 07055 for
Passaic, 07470/07474 for Wayne, and separate codes for each of the remaining boroughs and
townships.

What is Passaic County known for?
The Great Falls of the Passaic River in Paterson, birthplace of America’s planned industrial
city, and the 1913 Paterson silk strike, whose organizers held their rallies in neighboring
Haledon.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in New Jersey.