Prices, pay, taxes, homes and family budgets, county by county, from the same official data the site's calculators use.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures price levels in every state against a national average of 100. New Jersey scores 108.8 overall, so a $75,000 salary at average US prices buys what $81,604 buys here. Compare any salary with another state.
| Price level | New Jersey (US = 100) | Rank, most expensive first |
|---|---|---|
| Everything | 108.8 | 4th of 51 |
| Rents | 134.3 | 3rd of 51 |
| Goods | 107.1 | — |
| Other services | 103.5 | — |
Home electricity averaged 19.34 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2024, against 17.06 across all states. A gallon of regular gas cost $4.08 at the end of August 2026, against $4.12.
Across all 4,285,720 jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in New Jersey, the median pay is $58,570 a year, or $28.16 an hour; that ranks 9th of the 50 states and DC. One worker in ten earns less than $34,450 and one in ten more than $142,750.
New Jersey taxes wages in brackets, with a top rate of 10.75%. The brackets in New Jersey. A single filer on the median $58,570, with no retirement or health deductions, takes home about $47,498 a year, or $1,827 every two weeks, after $4,848 of federal income tax, $4,481 of Social Security and Medicare and $1,743 of state income tax. Work out your own paycheck in New Jersey.
The five occupations employing the most people, with their median annual pay:
| Occupation | Jobs | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 117,080 | $37,090 |
| Cashiers | 107,680 | $34,590 |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 97,230 | $39,540 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 93,730 | $34,150 |
| Registered Nurses | 92,680 | $106,500 |
Of the 20 largest occupations, the best paid are general and operations managers ($173,690), software developers ($135,940), registered nurses ($106,500). See what common jobs pay in every state.
Across the 21 New Jersey counties with their own Zillow home value, the median typical home is worth $591,891, and across the 21 with their own rent figure the median typical rent is $2,296 a month. A typical home costs 4.09 years of the county's median family income, at the median county.
With 10% down at 7.03%, the average 30-year rate on September 24, 2026, that home costs about $4,572 a month with tax, insurance and mortgage insurance, which takes $195,942 a year of income under the usual 28% guideline. The median family can afford its own county's typical home in 0.0% of New Jersey's counties, against 44.9% of counties nationally. Try it with your own income.
At the median county, home values changed +3.1% over the past year and +35.3% over five years, and rents +3.0% over the past year.
The most expensive New Jersey counties are Cape May County ($807,930), Bergen County ($793,874) and Monmouth County ($790,755); the least expensive are Cumberland County ($279,830), Salem County ($301,043) and Camden County ($361,570).
The Economic Policy Institute prices what a modest but adequate standard of living costs in every county: housing, food, transport, healthcare, childcare, other necessities and taxes. In the median New Jersey county, that comes to $59,331 a year for one adult and $135,364 for two adults and two children, of which $26,847 is childcare. The national averages are $47,367 and $101,771. Median family income in the median county is $120,310.
| Two adults, two children | Per year, median county | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $24,336 | $2,028 |
| Food | $13,285 | $1,107 |
| Transportation | $18,673 | $1,556 |
| Healthcare | $17,270 | $1,439 |
| Childcare | $26,847 | $2,237 |
| Other necessities | $11,732 | $978 |
| Taxes | $23,832 | $1,986 |
Each line is its own median across counties, so the lines do not add up exactly to the total.
The Department of Education's College Scorecard lists 157 colleges in New Jersey, 40 of them public. The median public college reports a cost of attendance of $17,521 a year, covering tuition, housing, books and other expenses. Ten years after enrolling, the median school's former students earn $46,192. Compare degrees and schools.
| Atlantic County | $387,254 | +3.7% | $2,088 | $94,662 | $123,807 |
| Bergen County | $793,874 | +6.2% | $2,953 | $150,475 | $142,498 |
| Burlington County | $426,786 | +2.3% | $2,278 | $127,277 | $140,667 |
| Camden County | $361,570 | +4.1% | $1,981 | $107,664 | $124,843 |
| Cape May County | $807,930 | +8.7% | $2,071 | $106,504 | $125,738 |
| Cumberland County | $279,830 | +1.2% | $1,718 | $76,482 | $121,113 |
| Essex County | $669,040 | +3.5% | $2,288 | $101,256 | $133,032 |
| Gloucester County | $389,938 | +3.9% | $2,098 | $127,695 | $132,875 |
| Hudson County | $651,621 | +0.8% | $3,093 | $99,378 | $132,961 |
| Hunterdon County | $645,030 | +3.1% | $2,514 | $166,462 | $141,836 |
| Mercer County | $450,985 | +0.1% | $2,606 | $124,699 | $135,364 |
| Middlesex County | $591,891 | +2.8% | $2,549 | $130,331 | $138,797 |
| Monmouth County | $790,755 | +5.4% | $2,935 | $155,779 | $139,947 |
| Morris County | $717,949 | +3.7% | $2,877 | $168,431 | $155,473 |
| Ocean County | $552,498 | +4.7% | $2,702 | $108,905 | $136,514 |
| Passaic County | $605,390 | +4.6% | $2,296 | $100,792 | $131,875 |
| Salem County | $301,043 | +2.2% | $1,700 | $96,968 | $125,116 |
| Somerset County | $672,427 | +2.1% | $2,734 | $167,353 | $148,235 |
| Sussex County | $451,801 | +3.0% | $2,144 | $134,187 | $141,177 |
| Union County | $636,731 | +1.6% | $2,535 | $120,310 | $140,011 |
| Warren County | $429,193 | +1.9% | $2,045 | $118,994 | $128,484 |
A dash means the source publishes no figure for that county. Home values and rents are Zillow's own county figures only; counties Zillow does not cover are left blank rather than filled with a state average.
New York, NY (typical rent $3,627), Philadelphia, PA (typical rent $1,925), Allentown, PA (typical rent $1,873).
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Cost of living · Income tax · Child care costs
Run the numbersTake-home pay in New Jersey · What a salary is worth in New Jersey · How much rent you can afford · What a car costs in New Jersey
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County figures are medians across New Jersey's counties, each counting once, so they describe the spread of places rather than of people. Property tax and insurance vary widely; the calculators let you use your own.