Essex County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of 2014, Essex County's Census-estimated population was 795,723, an increase of 1.5% from the 2010 United States Census, when its population was enumerated at 783,987, in turn a decrease of 1.2% (9,664 fewer residents) from the 793,633 enumerated in the 2000 Census and making it the third-most populous county in the state, having dropped behind Middlesex County, and one of only two counties in the state to see a decline in population during the decade between 2000 and 2010 (Cape May County being the other). Its county seat is Newark. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area.