Wayne is a township in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Home to William Paterson University and located less than 20 miles (32 km) from Midtown Manhattan, the township is a bedroom suburb of New York City and regional commercial hub of North Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 54,838, an increase of 121 (+0.2%) from the 2010 census count of 54,717, which in turn reflected an increase of 648 (+1.2%) from the 54,069 counted in the 2000 census.

Passaic County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the county was the state's eighth-most-populous county, with a population of 524,118, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 22,892 (+4.6%) from the 2010 census count of 501,226, which in turn reflected an increase of 12,177 (+2.5%) from the 489,049 counted in the 2000 census. The most populous place in Passaic County is Paterson, with 159,732 residents at the 2020 Census, more than 30% of the county's population, while West Milford covered 80.32 square miles (208.0 km2), the largest total area of any municipality and more than 40% of the county's area. The county is part of the North Jersey region of the state.