Geographic-scope notice: West Orange is not a separately-incorporated place in the U.S. Census Bureau's Place geography – it is either a neighborhood within a larger municipality (in Essex County) or a town-class subdivision in a state where the Census reports demographics at the town rather than place level. To avoid presenting county-level aggregates as city-level data, this page does not show synthetic Census or health figures for West Orange. For the surrounding county aggregates, see the New Jersey state directory.
City safety & data profile
West OrangeNJ
West Orange, NJ is a 48K-resident city in Essex County.
Essex County, New Jersey. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for West Orange, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. West Orange has a population larger than 78% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks.
Data updated 2026-07-20
- 48K
- Population
- Top 22%
- By size
The read on West Orange
West Orange is one of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks.
The quick read
Reading West Orange, NJ beyond the headline numbers
West Orange sits inside Essex County, New Jersey, at roughly 40.80°N, -74.24°W. Population 48,131.
Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for West Orange from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Comparison bars benchmark each metric against the national reference.
Safety Context
West Orange, NJ is located in Essex County, New Jersey. With a population of 48K, Safety alerts for the West Orange area are monitored from federal and state agencies including FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC.
Safety Guides
Primary source data
EPA Outdoor Air Quality Data
Federal monitoring network, every measurement we report
AirNow - New Jersey
Real-time AQI for every monitored New Jersey location
National Weather Service
NOAA active watches, warnings, advisories
CDC Air Quality & Health
Health-impact reference for every AQI category
EPA NAAQS standards
National Ambient Air Quality Standards, the regulatory thresholds
Nearby Cities 8
Using West Orange's profile
Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.
- Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the West Orange area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
- Read the poverty rate alongside the income figure, two places with the same median can have very different realities.
- Compare West Orange against New Jersey peers on any ranking lens. Explore New Jersey
Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city.
Data Sources
All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Essex County) where that is the smallest published unit.
Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census, CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.