526,597 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.6% since 2020)
186 square miles of land · 2,829 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.
29 active community water systems list Passaic County in the area they serve, reporting 697,461 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| PASSAIC VALLEY WATER COMMISSION surface water · local government · NJ1605002 | 310,483 served |
| NJ AMERICAN WATER - SHORT HILLS surface water · private · NJ0712001 | 217,230 served |
| TOWNSHIP OF WAYNE buys surface water · local government · NJ1614001 | 55,000 served |
| HAWTHORNE WATER DEPARTMENT groundwater · local government · NJ1604001 | 19,458 served |
| MANCHESTER UTILITIES AUTHORITY buys surface water · local government · NJ1603001 | 12,000 served |
| POMPTON LAKES MUA groundwater · local government · NJ1609001 | 11,435 served |
| NJ AMERICAN WATER - LITTLE FALLS buys surface water · private · NJ1605001 | 11,247 served |
| TOTOWA W DEPT buys surface water · local government · NJ1612001 | 10,804 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 563 people were held in Passaic County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2020), or 165 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2015 it was about 973.
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.
20 school districts have their office in Passaic County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $847 million — $755.6 million to run schools, about $30,473 per student, plus $26.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $80.4 million local (mostly property tax), $658.7 million state, $111.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $17 million.
Spent $464.7 million — $442.3 million to run schools, about $34,462 per student, plus $5.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $22 million local (mostly property tax), $370.8 million state, $91.3 million federal.
Spent $335.5 million — $258.2 million to run schools, about $23,854 per student, plus $51.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $151.5 million local (mostly property tax), $125.1 million state, $20 million federal. Long-term debt: $170.7 million.
Spent $229.2 million — $218.9 million to run schools, about $28,265 per student, plus $5.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $170.6 million local (mostly property tax), $54.2 million state, $6.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.2 million.
Spent $152.9 million — $135 million to run schools, about $30,765 per student, plus $13.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $61.5 million local (mostly property tax), $83.3 million state, $16.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $46.4 million.
Spent $94.5 million — $90.6 million to run schools, about $29,949 per student, plus $1.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $62.8 million local (mostly property tax), $27.2 million state, $4.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.3 million.
Spent $68.3 million — $57.8 million to run schools, about $25,911 per student, plus $5.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $44.6 million local (mostly property tax), $16.6 million state, $4.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $24.6 million.
Spent $47.8 million — $44.4 million to run schools, about $25,138 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $29.2 million local (mostly property tax), $18.1 million state, $2.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.1 million.
And 12 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 Passaic County about $148.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
333 bridges in Passaic County: 75 in good condition, 246 fair, and 12 poor (3.6%). “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.
| I-80 over Pas Riv McBride & Rvrvw · built 1969 | 139,551 vehicles a day |
| NJ RT 21 & RAMP B over BROOK AVE RIVER DR NB · built 1967 | 45,570 vehicles a day |
| NJ ROUTE 19 over RAMP C · built 1968 | 35,300 vehicles a day |
| PAT-HAM TPK(CR694) over PEQUANNOCK RIVER · built 1924 | 29,784 vehicles a day |
| RIVERVIEW DRIVE over TOTOWA SPUR (NS) · built 1941 | 27,500 vehicles a day |
| GREENWOOD LK TNPK over MONKSVILLE RESERVOIR · built 1986 | 14,101 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $83.6 million of work in Passaic County in fiscal 2025, about $159 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 Passaic 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 Passaic County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of New Jersey: the state government and every county in New Jersey.
Nearby counties: Bergen County (13 mi) · Rockland County, NY (16 mi) · Essex County (17 mi) · Morris County (18 mi) · Sussex County (22 mi) · Hudson County (24 mi).