Borough · Passaic County, New Jersey

Prospect Park, New Jersey

Prospect Park is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, part of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area. It has 6,319 residents. Prospect Park, New Jersey has a quality-of-life score of 33 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,532 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within New Jersey it ranks #528 of 552 cities and towns. It ranks best on grocery stores (high), depression (low) and suicide rate (low). It ranks worst on physical inactivity (high), child care cost burden (high) and effective property tax rate (high).

33Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,532 of 15,651 cities and towns
New Jersey: #528 of 552 in NJ
Population: 6,319 (2020-2024)
Land area: 0 mi²
Density: 13,581.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 3461170

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety48#8,171/15,637
Economy8#14,430/15,631
Housing0#14,969/14,977
Health64#5,562/15,609
Healthcare58#6,631/15,650
Environment48#8,003/15,453
Education42#9,054/15,649
Infrastructure40#9,403/15,650
Community49#7,919/15,651
Leisure & amenities50#7,887/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Prospect Park, New Jersey ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Passaic County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Grocery stores · high3.9 /10k
98/100New Jersey 2.4 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPassaic County value
Depression · low15.4%
98/100New Jersey 15.6%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Suicide rate · low6.2 /100k
97/100New Jersey 8.0 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataPassaic County value
Access to exercise opportunities · high98.8%
95/100New Jersey 95.9%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePassaic County value
Traffic deaths · low5.3 /100k
94/100New Jersey 6.9 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataPassaic County value
Pharmacies · high2.7 /10k
93/100New Jersey 2.4 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPassaic County value

Weaknesses

Physical inactivity · high37.8%
5/100New Jersey 23.8%United States 26.5%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Child care cost burden · high41.8%
5/100New Jersey 34.2%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePassaic County value
Effective property tax rate · high2.13%
5/100New Jersey 1.88%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.537
6/100New Jersey 0.478United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Food insecurity · high33.3%
6/100New Jersey 15.0%United States 15.6%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Unemployment rate · high11.5%
6/100New Jersey 5.2%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
5,865 (2015-2019) → 6,319 (2020-2024)
+7.7%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
17.2% (2015-2019) → 31.1% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Poverty rateWorsening
17.3% (2015-2019) → 28.3% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
25.7% (2015-2019) → 34.5% (2020-2024)
+8.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Public transit commutersWorsening
10.5% (2015-2019) → 1.7% (2020-2024)
−8.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
5.5× (2015-2019) → 7.7× (2020-2024)
+39%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Prospect Park, New Jersey improved on 2 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Property tax−2.2 points4.30% → 2.13%
Bachelor's++14 points17.2% → 31.1%

Declined1

Inequality+0.0940.444 → 0.537

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Prospect Park, New Jersey between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	25.2 min2015-2019	22.9 min2020-2024	−2.3 min	Within the margin of error	74%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.2%2015-2019	31.1%2020-2024	+14 points	Improved	96%
Broadband subscriptions	85.9%2015-2019	90.1%2020-2024	+4.3 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Child poverty rate	25.7%2015-2019	34.5%2020-2024	+8.9 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Effective property tax rate	4.30%2015-2019	2.13%2020-2024	−2.2 points	Improved	100%
High school diploma or higher	84.3%2015-2019	89.2%2020-2024	+5 points	Within the margin of error	81%
Home price to income ratio	5.5×2015-2019	7.7×2020-2024	+2.2×	Within the margin of error	3%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4442015-2019	0.5372020-2024	+0.094	Declined	5%
Median household income	$48,4972015-2019	$53,1252020-2024	+9.5%	Within the margin of error	16%
Poverty rate	17.3%2015-2019	28.3%2020-2024	+11 points	Within the margin of error	3%
Rent as share of income	47.1%2015-2019	46.0%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	63%
Rent-burdened households	64.9%2015-2019	72.2%2020-2024	+7.3 points	Within the margin of error	31%
Unemployment rate	4.9%2015-2019	11.5%2020-2024	+6.6 points	Within the margin of error	2%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	9.1%2015-2019	15.1%2020-2024	+6 points	Within the margin of error	8%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Prospect Park, New Jersey five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Prospect Park, New Jersey in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Prospect Park, New Jersey itself moved −1 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

6,319 residents (±21)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

2,065 households (±283)

Prospect Park, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Under $25k27%†560
$25k–50k21%†424
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

2,065 households (±283)

Prospect Park, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Own42%†867
Rent58%1,198

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

2,796 workers (±299)

Prospect Park, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Drive alone68%1,889
Carpool16%†445
Public transit1.7%†

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Passaic County, the county holding most of Prospect Park's residents.

Passaic County has 12,406 employer establishments, 237 for every 10,000 residents (0.95× the US rate of 248; 0.93× New Jersey's), with 146,956 paid employees at an average annual pay of $60,957. The Census Bureau also counts 61,349 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 12,406; 61,349 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 237; US 248 · New Jersey 253
Paid employees: 146,956
Average annual pay: $60,957; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Passaic County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	1,162	22.2	1.06×About typical	11,343	$61,150	2,298
Restaurants and other eating places	934	17.8	0.97×About typical	10,541	$25,970	541
Specialty trade contractors	848	16.2	1.05×About typical	5,894	$84,269	2,856
Services to buildings and dwellings	492	9.4	1.39×More than typical	2,333	$43,976	3,339
Construction of buildings	427	8.1	1.08×About typical	1,891	$73,656	1,772
Offices of physicians	424	8.1	1.25×About typical	3,108	$98,881	337
Full-service restaurants	416	7.9	1.03×About typical	5,010	$28,514	292
Building equipment contractors	412	7.9	1.31×More than typical	3,246	$90,949	778
Limited-service restaurants	397	7.6	0.94×About typical	4,243	$23,686	158
Personal care services	376	7.2	1.50×More than typical	1,565	$24,542	2,223
Lessors of real estate	375	7.2	0.58×Fewer than typical	2,266	$45,328	5,281
Offices of other health practitioners	320	6.1	1.01×About typical	1,734	$47,901	1,190

Rank places for an industry Open Passaic County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 524,011 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Prospect Park, New Jersey: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

0FY2017
602.2FY2019

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Prospect Park, New Jersey, so they do not add up across cities.

Prospect Park, New Jersey's figures are part of those of Passaic County, NJ ($173.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Prospect Park is mostly in Passaic County.

See federal money in Passaic County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Prospect Park, New Jersey is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

Andy KimD-

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Passaic County57100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ68

Other cities and towns in Passaic County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3461170

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends