Woodland Park was formed as a borough under the name West Paterson, by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 25, 1914, from portions of Little Falls Township, based on the results of a referendum held on May 1, 1914.
On November 4, 2008, the citizens of Woodland Park voted to change the official name of the borough from West Paterson to Woodland Park. The new name retains the initials "W.P." and is a reference to the community's semi-bucolic nature. At a November 10 community meeting attended by 200 residents, discussions were made of opposing the result by demanding a recount if the official results show that the measure has passed. If this effort is unsuccessful, the group discussed filing a petition to change the name back to West Paterson, and would consider raising the $33,000 needed to cover the cost of a special election in spring 2009 for voters to reconsider the name. By November 25 ,2008, the provisional vote counts had been tallied, and the name change won by 25 votes. The Mayor and Council approved Resolution R08-253 at the council meeting on Dec. 17, changing the borough's name to the Borough of Woodland Park, effective Jan. 1, 2009.
As of the census of 2000, there were 10,987 people, 4,397 households, and 3,025 families residing in the borough. The population density was 3,715.5 people per square mile (1,433.1/km²). There were 4,497 housing units at an average density of 1,520.8/sq mi (586.6/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 86.53% White, 3.16% African American, 0.08% Native American, 3.83% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.17% from other races, and 3.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.06% of the population.
As of the 2000 census, 34.3% of Woodland Park residents were of Italian ancestry, the 18th-highest percentage of any municipality in the United States, and seventh-highest in New Jersey, among all places with more than 1,000 residents identifying their ancestry.
There were 4,397 households out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.2% were non-families. 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the borough the population was spread out with 19.6% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 33.9% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $60,273, and the median income for a family was $67,292. Males had a median income of $47,389 versus $36,814 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $29,758. About 3.2% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.0% of those under age 18 and 3.0% of those age 65 or over.