NJ metros

Cost of living across major NJ metropolitan areas.

What living in NJ costs

Across the 2 NJ metros we track, the typical cost-of-living index is 102.4 against a national metro median of 95.7 — about 7% pricier than the typical US metro. That ranks NJ 37 of the 48 states we cover, counting from the cheapest.

The state is not uniform: Atlantic City, NJ is the cheapest metro at 98.9, while Trenton, NJ runs 102.4 — a spread of 4% between them.

A typical NJ home costs $446,377, or about 4.8× median household income, and typical rent is $2,623/mo.

Taxes in NJ

NJ levies a state income tax on top of the federal one. Effective property tax runs about 2.6% of home value in a typical NJ metro, and combined state and local sales tax is around 6.6%.

Property tax is the one that scales with housing, so it bites hardest in the pricier metros above. Per-metro figures are on each metro page.

Metro	COL index	Median home	Median rent
Trenton, NJ	102.4	$446,377	$2,623
Atlantic City, NJ	98.9	$384,211	$2,151

Cities & towns in NJ (150)

Local property tax, home values and school scores for each place.

Newark →Jersey City →Paterson →Elizabeth →Toms River →Trenton →Clifton →Camden →Bayonne →Passaic →East Orange →Lakewood →Union City →Hoboken →New Brunswick →Perth Amboy →Plainfield →West New York →Sicklerville →Hackensack →Sayreville →Linden →Kearny →Fort Lee →Atlantic City →Fair Lawn →Garfield →Long Branch →Westfield →Princeton →Rahway →Englewood →Bergenfield →Old Bridge →Paramus →Ridgewood →Lodi →Cliffside Park →Carteret →South Plainfield →Somerset →Glassboro →North Plainfield →Summit →Roselle →Hillsborough →Parsippany →Secaucus →Lindenwold →Elmwood Park →Woodbridge →Pleasantville →Palisades Park →Morristown →Hawthorne →Harrison →Tinton Falls →Point Pleasant →Rutherford →Preakness →Colonia →Iselin →Dover →Ocean Acres →Dumont →Avenel →New Milford →Madison →North Arlington →South River →Princeton Meadows →Tenafly →Springdale →Asbury Park →Phillipsburg →Highland Park →Metuchen →Fairview →Williamstown →Ramsey →Hammonton →Middlesex →Short Hills →West Freehold →Hopatcong →Edgewater →Moorestown-Lenola →Mercerville →Bradley Gardens →Westmont →Collingswood →Roselle Park →New Providence →Echelon →Eatontown →Franklin Park →Woodland Park →Ridgefield Park →Cherry Hill Mall →Red Bank →Florham Park →Oakland →Fords →Robertsville →Holiday City-Berkeley →Freehold →Somerville →Haddonfield →Upper Montclair →Martinsville →Pennsville →Glen Rock →Hasbrouck Heights →River Edge →Bound Brook →Hamilton Square →Wallington →Guttenberg →Ringwood →Bellmawr →Ridgefield →Gloucester City →Ocean City →Westwood →Wanaque →Pompton Lakes →Greentree →Franklin Lakes →Oak Ridge →Totowa →Little Ferry →Pompton Plains →The Hills →Beachwood →Manville →Lincoln Park →Pine Hill →Kendall Park →Somers Point →Lake Hopatcong →Marlton →Brookdale →Hillsdale →Hackettstown →Waldwick →Lake Hiawatha →Browns Mills →Blackwells Mills →Maywood →East Rutherford →