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New Jersey›Passaic County

Pines LakeNJ

The town has 2,882 residents and lies in New Jersey.

Is Pines Lake a good place to live?

Pines Lake’s middle household income is $172,000, above both New Jersey’s towns ($113,000) and U.S. towns ($80,000). No town among the 469 in New Jersey we compare has a higher home-ownership rate than Pines Lake. Pines Lake’s trail density is 1.8 miles per square mile, where New Jersey’s towns sit at 0.7 and U.S. towns at 0.4. We don’t grade Pines Lake yet; the figures below are still real.

A commuter town

98% of working residents leave Pines Lake for work

Where Pines Lake’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.

13% → New York New York 13% 9% → Wayne Township Wayne Township 9% 3% → Paterson Paterson 3% 3% → Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Parsippany-Troy Hills Township 3% 3% → Paramus Paramus 3% 2% → Newark Newark 2% Pines Lake · 2% stay
268jobs based in Pines Lake
2%of working residents work in town
15 mimedian commute distance

Census LEHD 2023

The data

Ordered by what stands out in Pines Lake.

Work & commute

Pines Lake stands out in New Jersey and nationally, with fewer of its working residents who work locally

2%work in town

4.7% of Pines Lake residents live below the poverty line. Jobs based here fell to 268 in 2023, 77 fewer than in 2013. Its mean commuting time is 33 minutes. For half of commuters, work is under 15 miles away.

Pines LakeNew Jersey townsU.S. towns
Average trip to work33 minutes30 minutes25 minutes
Working residents who work in town1.6%6.3%8%
Below the poverty line4.7%6.1%9.6%

Where working residents work

In Pines Lake2%
New York13%
Wayne Township9%
Paterson3%
Parsippany-Troy Hills Township3%
15 mi
median commute distance
268
jobs based in Pines Lake
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents

Census LEHD 2023 · ACS

Natural hazards

Natural hazards: high risk in Pines Lake, mostly inland flooding

74risk score of 100

Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in nearly three quarters of U.S. communities. 87% of Pines Lake’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding. Also worth knowing: since 1978, Pines Lake has seen 13 flood insurance claims paid out.

FEMA risk score
74High riskLowerHigher
Inland flooding
13
paid flood claims since 1978

FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA

Climate

Expect four seasons and pleasant summers in Pines Lake

24″snow a winter

July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 21° and about 24 inches of snow falls in a winter.

Typical low → high °F

Winter23–41°
Spring39–61°
Summer61–83°
Fall44–65°
Oct 23
typical first frost
Apr 19
typical last frost
+2.1°
vs. the 20th-century average

NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020

Health

How healthy Pines Lake is

In Pines Lake, 15% of adults have been diagnosed with depression. CDC measures, 32 in all: Pines Lake beats New Jersey on 18 and trails on 1. Two figures for adults in the town: 24% have obesity, 30% sleep under 7 hours.

Pines LakeNew Jersey townsU.S. towns
Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES)12%15%17%
Obesity (CDC PLACES)24%28%35%
Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES)30%36%36%
Depression (CDC PLACES)15%16%23%
32 measures vs. New Jersey
18 better13 too close to call1 worse
What stands outPines LakeNJ
Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth4.5%9.6%
Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off3.5%7%
More adults who have had cancer11%7.5%
Chilton Medical Center
3.1 mi away · emergency room
None
primary care, dental or mental-health shortage

CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA

Outdoors

3.9% of the land in Pines Lake is protected from building

3.9%conserved

There are 2.9 miles of trail across 4 parks and preserves.

3.9%
conserved · 40 of 1,040 acres
2.9 mi
of trails · 1.8 per sq mi
Biggest places to walkTrailsAcres
1. Laurelwood Arboretum1.2 mi14
2. Terhune Memorial Park at Sunnybank0.3 mi10
3. South Beach—3

Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US

3
homes sold in September

Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center

Keep exploring

Everything we know about Pines Lake

15pages on Pines Lake
Nearby attractions

Central Park and 538 more within 40 miles

Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pines Lake. Close and well known come first.

All 630 attractions →
Sources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits

Central Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Madison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · United States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain

Getting set up

Moving to Pines Lake: who provides what

Pines Lake is unincorporated, so Passaic County and regional agencies provide most services.

PowerJCP&L18.4¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterTownship of Wayne water systemNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet4 providers100% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & county servicesPassaic CountyPassaic County provides services here
SchoolsWayne Township School DistrictWhich school depends on your addressNCES
Register to voteOnlineIn New Jersey you can register online until 21 days before Election Day, in person until 21 days before Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 21 days before).vote.gov
Who runs elections herePassaic County ClerkPassaic County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Aug 2019
ZIP code0747007470 100%Census 2020

EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.

After high school

Colleges nearby

28 within 15 miles of the center of Pines Lake

About Pines Lake

Populated place in Passaic County, New Jersey, US

Pines Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located on a lake in Wayne, in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 census, Pines Lake had a population of 3,033. Pines Lake was started in the 1920s as a vacation community around a man-made lake approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) wide. Many of the original homes were modified log cabins. A large number of these log cabins, built of American chestnut in the 1930s, are still occupied as year-round homes. Gradually the neighborhood became approximately 500 high end to moderate suburban homes. It has a grammar school, Pines Lake School and its residents send their.…

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)

Area
1.6 sq mi
Elevation
230 ft

Pines Lake’s neighbors

4 towns share a border with Pines Lake.

Explore the map →
How the neighbors grade
TownNJ rankOverallCostSafetySchoolsHealth
Pines Lake——————
Wayne Township#214B+D−C+B+A+
Pompton Lakes#129AC−AB+A
Oakland#26A+CAA−A+
Franklin Lakes#21A+D−AA−A+

Pines Lake isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Pines Lake with a neighbor →

Questions about Pines Lake

Short answers, built from the data on this page.

Is Pines Lake, NJ a good place to live?

We don’t grade Pines Lake yet; the figures below are still real.

Pines Lake is in here

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