Essex County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New Jersey Metropolitan Area. Essex County has the highest property taxes in the state of New Jersey, which is the state with the overall highest level of property taxes in the nation. Essex County has a total area of approximately 130 square miles of which 97% is land and 3% water. As of the 2000 census, there were 793,633 people, 283,736 households, and 193,507 families residing in Essex County, NJ.