Passaic County, New Jersey Eviction Risk: High

Passaic County carries an average eviction-risk score of 8.2/10 (High) across its 22 cities, placing it fourth of 21 counties in New Jersey ranked by risk, with only 3 counties scoring worse. For landlords and investors, that number reflects a market where more than half of all households rent (51.7% renter share), average rent runs $1,701 per month, and renters dedicate an average of 33.7% of income to housing. Operating here is viable, but the combination of tenant-protection statutes, just-cause-eviction requirements, and concentrated poverty (14.6% average poverty rate) means that vacant units, problem tenancies, and extended eviction timelines are recurring realities that need to be priced into any underwriting.

The county-wide range of 6.8 to 8.6 out of 10 shows that Passaic County is not monolithic. A spread of 1.8 points separates its calmest markets from its most turbulent, which makes municipality-level due diligence essential before committing to a specific submarket.

The cities inside Passaic County

The two highest-risk cities in the county are Paterson and Passaic, each scoring 8.6/10. Paterson is also the county's largest city at 158,735 residents, and Passaic is home to 70,002 people, making these not just high-risk but high-volume rental markets where problems compound at scale. Woodland Park scores 8.5/10, and Hawthorne reaches 8.3/10 among a second tier of elevated-risk cities. Even Clifton, the county's second-largest city at 89,379 people, comes in at 8/10, leaving virtually no large-population hub in the county at a moderate or lower risk level.

Lower-risk options do exist at the county's northern edge. Wanaque scores 7.1/10 and Ringwood scores 7.6/10, both sitting well below the county average. Preakness, at 7.9/10, offers a modest step down from the denser urban cores. These gaps confirm that risk in Passaic County is genuinely hyper-local: two municipalities can sit adjacent on a map yet differ by a full point or more on eviction-risk exposure.

State-level laws that apply here

New Jersey eviction laws's Anti-Eviction Act (N.J.S.A. § 2A:18) requires just cause for every eviction, with no exceptions for ordinary lease expirations. Notice requirements vary by grounds: nonpayment cases carry no required pre-filing waiting period under N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1(a), disorderly conduct and willful damage each require a 3-day notice, a substantial lease violation triggers a 30-day notice, and an owner move-in or substantial renovation demands a 60-day notice. Understanding the New Jersey eviction process matters here because even an uncontested case runs 30 to 60 days from filing to resolution; a contested case can stretch to 90 to 180 days. Court filing fees range from $50 to $100, sheriff lockout fees from $40 to $150, and attorney fees from $750 to $3,500, meaning total out-of-pocket costs can land anywhere from under $1,000 to well above $3,700 depending on how a case unfolds.

State law does not preempt local rent-control ordinances, so individual municipalities within the county may layer additional restrictions on top of the state baseline. Source-of-income discrimination is a protected class under state law, enforced by the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, which directly limits tenant-screening flexibility. Landlords should also factor in New Jersey security deposit limits and habitability obligations under N.J.S.A. § 2A:42-85 when evaluating acquisition costs and management overhead. A full review of New Jersey tenant protections is worth completing before signing any purchase contract in this county.

With a 14.6% average poverty rate and renters making up 51.7% of the county's households, Passaic County's financial stress is distributed unevenly across its 22 cities; the city-by-city grid above shows exactly where that risk concentrates and where it retreats.