What it costs to own a home in New Jersey
A median-priced New Jersey home costs about $3,828 a month to own with 20% down at today's 6.65% thirty-year rate. That covers $2,801 of principal and interest, $854 of property tax and $173 of homeowners insurance. Staying inside the 28% front-end ratio lenders use takes a household income of roughly $164,049 a year.
- Median home price
- $545,300
- Monthly cost
- $3,828
- Income needed
- $164,049
- Property tax rate
- 1.88%
What sets the payment in New Jersey?
| Input | New Jersey | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Effective property tax rate | 1.88% | 2nd highest of 51 |
| Median home price | $545,300 | 9th highest of 51 |
| Average annual premium | $1,700 | on a $250k dwelling |
| Assessment cap | none | assessments track market value |
| Price level vs national | 108.8 | BEA price parity, 100 = US average |
| Appreciation, past year | +5.86% | FHFA index |
| Appreciation, past five years | +63.9% | FHFA index |
What makes New Jersey different
New Jersey has the highest effective property tax rate in the country, and unlike California, Florida or Texas there is no cap on how fast assessed value can climb. On the $545,300 median the bill is roughly $854 a month, every month, indefinitely.
That figure deserves to be looked at over a full ownership period rather than monthly. Frozen at today's level and never raised once, thirty years of property tax on a median New Jersey home still comes to about $307,000 — more than half the purchase price. Assessments do not stay frozen, so the real total runs considerably higher. The mortgage amortises and eventually ends. The tax bill does neither, and it is why New Jersey retirees so often sell houses they could otherwise own outright.
The state average also hides enormous municipal spread, because New Jersey funds schools locally across nearly six hundred separate districts. Two towns a few miles apart can differ by more than a full percentage point, and in a state this dense that is a routine part of house-hunting rather than an edge case. Check the actual municipality before trusting the figure here.
Prices rose 5.86% over the past year and nearly 64% over five, among the strongest runs in the country — which pushes the assessed value, and therefore the bill, up with it.
How much income do you need to buy a house in New Jersey?
All four rows buy the same $545,300 house at today's 6.65% rate. The difference is entirely the down payment and the mortgage insurance it does or does not trigger.
| Down | Cash at closing | P&I | PMI | Total monthly | Income needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5% down | $19,086 | $3,378 | $417 | $4,822 | $206,658 |
| 5% down | $27,265 | $3,326 | $302 | $4,655 | $199,504 |
| 10% down | $54,530 | $3,151 | $188 | $4,366 | $187,115 |
| 20% down | $109,060 | $2,801 | — | $3,828 | $164,049 |
What is a New Jersey home bought in 2020 worth now?
Working backwards from today's median along the FHFA path for New Jersey: what that same house would have cost at the time, the rate available then, and where the loan and the equity stand today at 20% down.
| Bought | Price then | Rate | P&I | Balance now | Equity now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-2010 | $174,972 | 4.74% | $729 | $88,676 | $456,624 |
| Mid-2015 | $205,911 | 3.98% | $785 | $124,622 | $420,678 |
| Mid-2018 | $257,857 | 4.57% | $1,054 | $174,497 | $370,803 |
| Mid-2020 | $303,975 | 3.16% | $1,046 | $210,058 | $335,242 |
| Mid-2022 | $420,050 | 5.52% | $1,912 | $315,493 | $229,807 |
| Mid-2024 | $491,885 | 6.92% | $2,597 | $384,345 | $160,955 |
How do wages vary across New Jersey?
Wages track local price levels closely. These are the metropolitan areas in New Jersey the calculator recognises from a ZIP code, and the pay adjustment it applies to national occupation wages there.
| Metro area | Price level | Pay adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City | 115.9 | +21% |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington | 103.4 | +5% |
Run a real address. These are state medians. Put in an actual New Jersey address, the date it closed and the price paid, and the calculator will work out that home's payment, its mortgage-insurance dates and the equity behind it.