Puerto Rican Population in Essex County, NJ by City : 2025 Ranking & Insights

The Puerto Rican population in Essex County, NJ is recorded at 53,358 residents, based on the latest U.S. Census estimates. Every city in Essex County reports some Puerto Rican residents. With no unincorporated share evident in the totals, this points to a completely city-based population. The sections below explores how Puerto Rican residents are distributed in New Jersey and the U.S.

Top 5 cities with the largest Puerto Rican population in Essex County

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  • 1
    Newark
    Puerto Rican population in Newark is 31,898
    10.38% of Newark population is Puerto Rican
  • 2
    Bloomfield township
    Puerto Rican population in Bloomfield township is 4,462
    8.42% of Bloomfield township population is Puerto Rican
  • 3
    Belleville township
    Puerto Rican population in Belleville township is 4,001
    10.60% of Belleville township population is Puerto Rican
  • 4
    East Orange
    Puerto Rican population in East Orange is 2,786
    4.03% of East Orange population is Puerto Rican
  • 5
    Irvington township
    Puerto Rican population in Irvington township is 2,221
    3.68% of Irvington township population is Puerto Rican

Overview of Puerto Rican population in Essex County

  • Population Count and Percentage: American Community Survey data shows Essex County contains 53,358 Puerto Rican residents (6.2% of 854,130 total county population), ranking the jurisdiction at the 99th percentile nationally among counties and 95th percentile within New Jersey for Puerto Rican demographic concentrations across both absolute and proportional measures.
  • Comparison to State and National Averages: Census Bureau's ACS show Essex County's Puerto Rican population of 6.2% surpassing both New Jersey's state average of 5.1% and the national average of 1.8%, positioning the county as a high-concentration jurisdiction exceeding demographic benchmarks across all geographic scales.
  • Share of Total State Population: Official American Community Survey indicate Essex County's 53,358 Puerto Rican residents constitute 11.2% of New Jersey's total Puerto Rican population of 474,542, placing the county among jurisdictions with the highest demographic concentrations, with 11.2% of all New Jersey Puerto Ricans residing within county boundaries.
  • Population Density per Square Mile: U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey document Essex County with 423.2 Puerto Ricans per square mile, six and a half times New Jersey's average density of 64.5 per square mile, placing the county among the most densely concentrated jurisdictions within the state.
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22 Cities in Essex County Ranked by Puerto Rican Population

View Methodology
ACS data [1] confirm Puerto Rican populations in every incorporated city in the county, with the largest counts in Newark, Bloomfield township, Belleville township, and East Orange. The table below provides detailed figures, including total population, density measures, and demographic distributions, based on the current ACS data for all 22 incorporated cities included in this analysis*.
cities in Essex County, NJ ranked by Puerto Rican population count
Rank by Puerto Rican Population
City
Puerto Rican Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total Essex County Puerto Rican Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Newark 31,898 10.38% 59.78%
2 Bloomfield township 4,462 8.42% 8.36%
3 Belleville township 4,001 10.60% 7.50%
4 East Orange 2,786 4.03% 5.22%
5 Irvington township 2,221 3.68% 4.16%
6 City of Orange township 1,218 3.59% 2.28%
7 West Orange township 1,034 2.14% 1.94%
8 1,031 3.46% 1.93%
9 965 2.42% 1.81%
10 525 2.41% 0.98%
11 484 5.44% 0.91%
12 482 4.42% 0.90%
13 388 2.12% 0.73%
14 347 2.62% 0.65%
15 320 2.22% 0.60%
16 260 1.02% 0.49%
17 246 3.14% 0.46%
18 223 2.89% 0.42%
19 207 0.67% 0.39%
20 200 3.02% 0.37%
21 44 1.90% 0.08%
22 16 0.26% 0.03%
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Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks city in Essex County, NJ by their Puerto Rican population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census defines Puerto Rican population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their ancestry, meaning individuals can write upto ancestries when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as having Puerto Rican ancestry, whether alone or in combination with another ancestry.
Here are a few important things to know about how ancestry is reported:
  • Some people identify as Puerto Rican alone, while others identify as Puerto Rican along with another race (such as Puerto Rican and German).
  • We’ve used the “Puerto Rican alone or in any combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Puerto Rican population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Puerto Rican alone or in combination in city. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total City Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Puerto Rican .
  2. % of Total Essex County Puerto Rican Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Puerto Rican population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Puerto Rican populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • City that don’t have any reported Puerto Rican population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Puerto Rican populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

  1. 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.
  2. 2023.