Hawthorne is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 18,791 reflecting an increase of 573 (+3.1%) from the 18,218 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 1,134 (+6.6%) from the 17,084 counted in the 1990 Census.
Hawthorne was originally part of the now-defunct Manchester Township, which was later subdivided to create Hawthorne, Haledon, North Haledon, Prospect Park, Totowa, The Heights/Columbia Heights District of Fairlawn and most of the First Ward of Paterson. The Borough of Hawthorne was incorporated from portions of Manchester Township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 24, 1898. The borough was named for novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Hawthorne borough had a total area of 3.35 square miles (8.67 km2), including 3.32 square miles (8.60 km2) of land and 0.03 square miles (0.08 km2) of water (0.90%).
Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the borough include Goffle, North Hawthorne and Van Winkle.
The borough borders North Haledon, Prospect Park, and Paterson in Passaic County; and Fair Lawn, Glen Rock, Ridgewood and Wyckoff in Bergen County.
The 2010 United States Census counted 18,791 people, 7,454 households, and 4,949 families in the borough. The population density was 5,635.3 inhabitants per square mile (2,175.8/km2). There were 7,756 housing units at an average density of 2,326.0 per square mile (898.1/km2). The racial makeup was 88.62% (16,652) White, 2.27% (426) Black or African American, 0.21% (40) Native American, 2.82% (530) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 4.28% (804) from other races, and 1.80% (339) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.42% (2,897) of the population.
Of the 7,454 households, 29.5% had children under the age of 18; 50.7% were married couples living together; 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present and 33.6% were non-families. Of all households, 27.6% were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.12.
21.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older.