It’s no secret that it’s expensive to live in New Jersey. Our home state placed third on a list of the highest rents across the country, following Hawaii and California.
A study by Forbes Home analyzed data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development to see in which states residents were spending the biggest percentage of income on rent.
The most expensive rent payments are due in:
1. Hawaii
2. California
3. New Jersey
4. Massachusetts
5. Delaware
6. Alaska
7. Maryland
8. Rhode Island
9. Oregon
10. Arizona
Residents of Hawaii spend the most. The latest stats show that the average yearly income in the state is $60,947, and the average monthly income is $5,079. With the average monthly rent for all size homes being $2,136, Hawaiians are spending 42.06% of their income on rent, the highest of any state.
California takes second place on the list, with an average of 28.47% of income going toward rent. This is based on an average annual income of $76,614, which equates to an average monthly income of $6,385, compared against the average monthly rent of $1,818 for all rentable homes.
Taking third place on the list is New Jersey, where residents spend roughly 27.50% of their income on rent on average. According to research, the state’s average monthly income is $6,385 – $77,016 per year – with $1,765 of this going toward rent every month.
Coming in fourth place is Massachusetts. The study found that it has the highest average income in the Top 10, with $6,971 per month and $83,653 per year, respectively. With the average monthly rent being $1,823, 26.15% of income goes towards rent.
Rounding out the Top 5 is Delaware, with 25.79% of income going towards rent. This is due to the state having an average yearly income of $59,931, which works out to a monthly income of $4,994 and an average monthly rent of $1,288.
The findings are mainly due to the pandemic; since there were an influx of new residents to certain states during 2021 and 2022, the average rent has increased.
It’s also quite expensive to buy a home throughout NJ. Based on data from December 2022, here’s how our different counties stand in terms of median single-family home price, according to New Jersey Realtors:
- Bergen County: $645,000
- Monmouth County: $615,000
- Somerset County: $600,000
- Morris County: $577,500
- Union County: $530,000
- Essex County: $527,500
- Hunterdon County: $490,000
- Hudson County: $487,500
- Ocean County: $487,000
- Cape May County: $482,450
- Passaic County: $471,050
- Middlesex County: $450,000
- Mercer County: $400,000
- Atlantic County: $335,000
- Warren County: $332,500
- Sussex County: $330,000
- Burlington County: $310,000
- Gloucester County: $305,000
- Camden County: $287,700
- Salem County: $242,500
- Cumberland County: $235,000
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