881,527 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.5% since 2020)
126 square miles of land · 6,992 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
21 active community water systems list Essex County in the area they serve, reporting 894,557 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| NEWARK WATER DEPARTMENT surface water · local government · NJ0714001 | 294,274 served |
| NJ AMERICAN WATER - SHORT HILLS surface water · private · NJ0712001 | 217,230 served |
| EAST ORANGE WATER COMMISSION groundwater · local government · NJ0705001 | 75,000 served |
| BLOOMFIELD WATER DEPARTMENT buys surface water · local government · NJ0702001 | 53,315 served |
| MONTCLAIR WATER BUREAU buys surface water · local government · NJ0713001 | 40,150 served |
| BELLEVILLE WATER DEPT buys surface water · local government · NJ0701001 | 35,129 served |
| ORANGE WATER DEPT buys surface water · local government · NJ0717001 | 30,134 served |
| NUTLEY WATER DEPT buys surface water · local government · NJ0716001 | 29,500 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 2,193 people were held in Essex County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 390 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 2,497.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
22 school districts have their office in Essex County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $1.7 billion — $1.5 billion to run schools, about $36,654 per student, plus $63.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $181.8 million local (mostly property tax), $1.3 billion state, $218.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $147.5 million.
Spent $344.8 million — $310.6 million to run schools, about $33,495 per student, plus $6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $27.9 million local (mostly property tax), $254 million state, $48 million federal. Long-term debt: $9.4 million.
Spent $249.7 million — $230.8 million to run schools, about $30,072 per student, plus $3.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $22.8 million local (mostly property tax), $190.4 million state, $29.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $22.2 million.
Spent $238.5 million — $219.4 million to run schools, about $32,096 per student, plus $8.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $156.1 million local (mostly property tax), $76 million state, $8.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $37.1 million.
Spent $232.1 million — $174.6 million to run schools, about $25,632 per student, plus $39.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $144.7 million local (mostly property tax), $48.9 million state, $10 million federal. Long-term debt: $178.8 million.
Spent $164.7 million — $157.3 million to run schools, about $24,685 per student, plus $3.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $125.3 million local (mostly property tax), $40.2 million state, $2.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $64.7 million.
Spent $164.9 million — $151 million to run schools, about $23,858 per student, plus $7.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $83.2 million local (mostly property tax), $74.4 million state, $13.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $14.3 million.
Spent $221.3 million — $172 million to run schools, about $27,674 per student, plus $6.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $168.2 million local (mostly property tax), $48.3 million state, $6.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $47.4 million.
And 14 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively High compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Essex County about $214.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
505 bridges in Essex County: 81 in good condition, 410 fair, and 14 poor (2.8%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| NJTPK SNW&NSW RWY over PASSAIC RIV PCRR CRR CON · built 1970 | 134,566 vehicles a day |
| US 1&9 over PASSAIC R NJTPK RR 1&9T · built 1932 | 85,904 vehicles a day |
| I-78EB OUTER RAMPS over CONRAIL (MP 11.33) · built 1972 | 84,700 vehicles a day |
| I-78 WB RAMPS over CONRAIL MP 11.25 · built 1973 | 83,060 vehicles a day |
| I-280 WESTBOUND over ORANGE 1ST ST. RAMP NJT · built 1972 | 52,375 vehicles a day |
| I-280 Eastbound over Proposed Essex CO.PK.RD · built 1972 | 38,906 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $635.3 million of work in Essex County in fiscal 2025, about $735 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for New Jersey are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Essex County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Essex County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of New Jersey: the state government and every county in New Jersey.
Nearby counties: Union County (9 mi) · Hudson County (10 mi) · New York County, NY (14 mi) · Bergen County (15 mi) · Morris County (16 mi) · Richmond County, NY (17 mi).