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Township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States

Fairfield is a township in far northwestern Essex County, in the U. S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 7,872, Fairfield was the least densely populated town in Essex County in 2020. In 1978, the borough passed a referendum reincorporating itself as a township, becoming the second of more than a dozen Essex County municipalities to reclassify themselves as townships in order take advantage of federal revenue sharing policies that allocated townships a greater share of government aid to municipalities on a per capita basis.

The Dutch, including many acculturated French Huguenots, initially settled this area of the Passaic River Valley after purchasing it from the Native Americans. They named it "Gansegat" which is Dutch for "duck's pond". The Horseneck Tract was an area that consisted of what are now the municipalities of Fairfield, Caldwell, West Caldwell, North Caldwell, Verona, Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, Roseland, and portions of Livingston and West Orange. Later in 1702, English settlers purchased of the Horseneck Tract without approval of the Proprietary Authorities from the Lenape Native Americans for goods equal to $325. When Proprietary Authorities began eviction proceedings against the settlers, the Horseneck Riots took place. This purchase encompassed much of western Essex County, from the First Mountain to a point on the Passaic River at Pine Brook NJ. The reason for the Horseneck name has never been determined, but historians agree that it is not because of its shape. The Van Ness House, constructed about 1720, is a historic home added in 1977 to the National Register of Historic Places. The Fairfield Dutch Reformed Church dates back to 1720, and its current structure is another historic site, built in 1804.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 10.35 square miles (26.80 km2), including 10.13 square miles (26.23 km2) of land and 0.22 square miles (0.57 km2) of water (2.14%). Great Piece Meadows is a swamp covering
The township borders North Caldwell and West Caldwell in Essex County; East Hanover Township, Lincoln Park and Montville in Morris County; and Little Falls and Wayne in Passaic County.

The 2010 United States census counted 7,466 people, 2,645 households, and 2,103 families in the township. The population density was There were 2,723 housing units at an average density of The racial makeup was 94.84% (7,081) White, 0.68% (51) Black or African American, 0.28% (21) Native American, 2.53% (189) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 0.74% (55) from other races, and 0.92% (69) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.14% (384) of the population.

Fairfield Township operates within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Small Municipality plan C form of New Jersey government, as implemented as of January 1, 1962, based on direct petition. The township is one of 18 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government, which is available to municipalities with less than 12,000 residents at the time of adoption. The governing body is composed of the Mayor and the four member Township Council. Members are elected at large in partisan elections in a three year cycle, with two council seats up for vote in each of the first two years of the cycle and the mayoral seat up in the third year. The Mayor exercises executive power of the municipality, appoints department heads with Council approval, prepares the annual budget and has veto over ordinances subject to override by 2/3 of all members of Council. The Council exercises legislative power of municipality and approves appointment of department heads. as of 2023, members of the Fairfield Township Council are Mayor William Galese (R, appointed to serve an unexpired term ending December 31, 2024), Council President Michael B. McGlynn (R, 2025), Peter Campisi (R, 2023; appointed to serve an unexpired term), Joseph Cifelli (R, 2025) and John LaForgia (R, 2023). In January 2023, councilmember William Galese was appointed as mayor to fill the seat expiring in December 2024 that had been held by James Gasparini until he resigned to take office as the township's administrator. Later that month, Peter Campisi was appointed to fill Galese's vacant council seat expiring in December 2023.

Fairfield is located in the 11th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 40th state legislative district.

As of March 2011, there were a total of 5,378 registered voters in Fairfield, of which 1,004 (18.7%) were registered as Democrats, 2,072 (38.5%) were registered as Republicans and 2,299 (42.7%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 3 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens. In the 2016 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump received 72.5% of the vote (2,858 cast), ahead of Democrat Hillary Clinton with 25.6% (1,009 cast), and other candidates with 1.8% (70 votes), among the 4,003 ballots cast by the township's 5,798 registered voters, for a turnout of 69%. In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 69.4% of the vote (2,494 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 29.7% (1,069 votes), and other candidates with 0.9% (32 votes), among the 3,625 ballots cast by the township's 5,459 registered voters (30 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 66.4%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 70.1% of the vote (2,797 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 28.5% (1,137 votes) and other candidates with 0.5% (21 votes), among the 3,991 ballots cast by the township's 5,380 registered voters, for a turnout of 74.2%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 69.6% of the vote (2,742 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 29.2% (1,151 votes) and other candidates with 0.8% (39 votes), among the 3,939 ballots cast by the township's 5,131 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 76.8. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 73.9% of the vote (1,600 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 25.3% (548 votes), and other candidates with 0.8% (17 votes), among the 2,193 ballots cast by the township's 5,445 registered voters (28 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 40.3%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 68.9% of the vote (1,819 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 25.0% (661 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 5.0% (133 votes) and other candidates with 0.5% (12 votes), among the 2,641 ballots cast by the township's 5,397 registered voters, yielding a 48.9% turnout.

as of 2010, the borough had a total of 62.10 mile (100 km) of roadways, of which 40.18 mile (65 km) were maintained by the municipality, 13.14 mile (21 km) by Essex County and 8.78 mile (14 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation. U. S. Route 46, Route 159 and Interstate 80 all pass through the Township.

NJ Transit provides bus service to Newark on the 29 and 71 routes. Lakeland Bus Lines offers service to and from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan on its Route 46 route. Essex County Airport, managed by the Essex County Improvement Authority, is located in Fairfield.