Cost of living in New Jersey

Rent, income, home value and property tax for New Jersey, home to 9.34M people, then the same for each of its 21 counties. Every figure is the published one, with its source named.

Median rent: $1,720; Census ACS, B25064, monthly
Median household income: $103,556; Census ACS, B19013, yearly
Median home value: $454,400; Census ACS, B25077
Median property tax bill: $9,590; Census ACS, B25103, yearly, current owners
Mean commute: 31 min; Census ACS, DP03, one way
Unemployment: 6.3%; Census ACS, DP03

New Jersey's own published state rows, never an average of its counties. Prices overall run 9% above the national average (BEA regional price parity, 2024).

Census ACS 2024 five-year estimates, checked November 2026.

The three most populous counties in New Jersey

These are the most populous places in New Jersey, not a match to you. Set what matters to you on Find your fit and this becomes your three closest matches here. Made-up answers work too. This is a tool, not a survey.

Bergen County
Population
962K
Rent
$1,914
Household income
$124,884
Prop. tax (yearly)
—
Plan
Middlesex County
Population
871K
Rent
$1,871
Household income
$111,549
Prop. tax (yearly)
$9,712
Plan
Essex County
Population
863K
Rent
$1,531
Household income
$80,789
Prop. tax (yearly)
—
Plan

New Jersey, worth the trip

Ratified the Constitution on December 18, 1787, as the third state. The Dutch established the first permanent European settlement at Bergen, now Jersey City, in 1660, four years before the colony came under English rule. More than 100 battles of the American Revolution took place in New Jersey.

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Quiet landscapes and historic sites along 40 miles of the longest free-flowing river east of the Mississippi.
Thomas Edison National Historical Park
Thomas Edison's home and laboratory in West Orange, from the days of belts, pulleys and phonographs.
Morristown National Historical Park
The sites where George Washington and the Continental Army camped from December 1779 to June 1780.

History: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Each place links to the page of the agency that looks after it.

Property tax in New Jersey

Current owners in New Jersey pay a median 2.11% of home value a year in property tax. Example: $9,590 a year, the median bill. By county, the median bill runs from $5,052 in Cumberland County to $9,712 in Middlesex County. These are bills that current owners pay, as the Census measures them. Each county's own figure is in the table below.

Health in New Jersey

Life expectancy: 79.0 yrs; County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS vital statistics
No health insurance: 8.0%; County Health Rankings, from Census SAHIE, people under 65
Poor or fair health: 14.5%; County Health Rankings, from CDC BRFSS. Modeled, not counted
Injury deaths per 100K people: 66; County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS, counted deaths

Each is the figure County Health Rankings publishes for New Jersey as a whole, never an average of its counties. Each county's own health readings are on its page.

Natural hazards in New Jersey

Expected yearly loss, statewide: $3.2B; All natural hazards, an average year. Larger states lose more
Building loss rate: $1.51; Per $1,000 of building value, each year. Fair to compare between states
Costliest hazard: Inland flooding; $2.0B of the expected yearly loss, the largest share of any hazard FEMA assesses
Air quality: —; The EPA publishes air quality by county and metro area, never by state. It is on each county's page

FEMA publishes a risk score for counties and none for states, so none is shown here. Each county's score is on its own page.

New homes permitted in New Jersey

Permitted in 2025

27,661homes

Per 1,000 residents

3.0

Single-family · larger buildings

12,820 · 14,841

36K2020
37K2021
37K2022
33K2023
35K2024
28K2025

New Jersey approved permits for 27,661 new homes in 2025. That is about 3.0 homes for every 1,000 people. 12,820 were single-family houses, and 14,841 were in buildings with two or more homes. From 2020 to 2025 the yearly count stayed between 27,661 and 37,094.

35th of the 50 states and DC by homes permitted per 1,000 residents in 2025.

A permit lets a home be built. It does not mean the home is finished. Some offices did not report, so part of this figure is a Census estimate. The offices that did report account for 18,465. Source: US Census Building Permits Survey, annual 2025 data.

Side by side

Bergen County, NJ is the largest county here. Set it beside another place, reading by reading.

The largest counties in New Jersey

By population, from the Census release named below. Each opens its own page.

All 21 counties in New Jersey

Each has its published readings on its own page. Press a column to sort by it. Pick one, or open the map to see them shaded side by side.


Atlantic County	$1,376	$78,050	$295,000	$6,776	276K	759
Bergen County	$1,914	$124,884	$623,000	—	962K	2,970
Burlington County	$1,745	$108,111	$354,000	$7,983	468K	1,624
Camden County	$1,402	$88,755	$287,100	$8,134	527K	820
Cape May County	$1,360	$91,128	$434,600	$5,306	94.9K	854
Cumberland County	$1,282	$67,436	$221,400	$5,052	153K	143
Essex County	$1,531	$80,789	$524,100	—	863K	3,657
Gloucester County	$1,531	$105,115	$310,400	$8,055	307K	921
Hudson County	$1,894	$91,795	$539,700	$9,555	718K	3,352
Hunterdon County	$1,687	$141,715	$517,200	—	130K	544
Mercer County	$1,623	$100,645	$377,700	$8,909	386K	1,164
Middlesex County	$1,871	$111,549	$462,900	$9,712	871K	1,476
Monmouth County	$1,827	$124,845	$606,100	—	645K	2,138
Morris County	$1,904	$137,326	$582,500	—	515K	1,324
Ocean County	$1,755	$89,863	$398,400	$6,562	654K	2,831
Passaic County	$1,621	$87,522	$459,500	—	521K	585
Salem County	$1,253	$79,960	$239,500	$7,018	65.3K	77
Somerset County	$2,033	$140,374	$552,100	—	350K	763
Sussex County	$1,585	$116,186	$369,400	$8,568	146K	96
Union County	$1,730	$103,202	$529,200	—	579K	1,228
Warren County	$1,409	$100,869	$346,500	$8,119	111K	335

Household income, home value and population are on each county's own page, and in this table on a wider screen.

Where these numbers come from

Each reading is the published figure, not an estimate. A dash means the source did not publish one, or published one too uncertain to print.

State figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 20245-year estimates, the state's own row (tables B25064, B19013, B25077, B25103, B01003, DP03).
County figures: the same survey, each county's own row, as on every county page.
Price level: Bureau of Economic Analysis, regional price parities, 2024, all items, state-level.
Health: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, the state's own row. Poor or fair health is a modeled estimate from CDC survey data. The other three are counted or calculated.
Natural hazards: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025, state table, expected annual loss. This product uses FEMA data but is not endorsed by FEMA.
Air quality has no state figure: the EPA publishes it by county and metro area only.
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons and the county photo feed, each credited to its photographer under its own licence, beneath the picture.

What to do with these numbers

Every number here is public. The site adds your side of it: New Jersey next to your own state, by what you value.

See New Jersey beside your own state
Find your fit puts it next to where you live and the states next door, by what matters to you. Made-up answers are fine, since this is a tool, not a survey. No account needed.
Find your fit
Pick a county here and make it your target
The three counties above each carry Set as target. From there the Journey lays out the runway and the steps. An account keeps it private and yours across devices.
See the three counties

New Jersey at a glance

The three most populous counties in New Jersey

Bergen County

Middlesex County

Essex County