Passaic County, New Jersey
Passaic County ( pə-SAY-ik or locally pə-SAYK) is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the county was the state's eighth-most-populous county, with a population of 524,118, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 22,892 (+4.6%) from the 2010 census count of 501,226, which in turn reflected an increase of 12,177 (+2.5%) from the 489,049 counted in the 2000 census. The United States Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program estimated a 2025 population of 531,624, an increase of 7,506 (+1.4%) from the 2020 decennial census. The county is part of the North Jersey region of the state.
The most populous place in Passaic County is Paterson, the county seat, with 159,732 residents at the 2020 Census, more than 30% of the county's population, while West Milford covered 80.32 square miles (208.0 km2), the largest total area of any municipality and more than 40% of the county's area.