Cost of Living in New Jersey (2026): What Renters Should Budget

Updated September 2026. Rent figures reflect Apartment List's August 2026 estimates.

New Jersey's median rent was $1,986 in August 2026, 43% above the national median of $1,390, according to the Apartment List Rent Index. A one-bedroom had a median rent of $1,695, which corresponds to about $67,800 in annual income before taxes when rent takes 30% of income.

Where you rent changes that calculation. The county and city tables below show how rents vary across the state, alongside electricity, transportation, and tax considerations.

New Jersey Cost of Living at a Glance

Rent figures are Apartment List statewide medians for August 2026; the extra-rent and equal-split rows are derived from them and compare statewide medians. Electricity is the EIA's 2024 average residential bill. The PATH fare is the Port Authority's 2026 price.

How to use these numbers: Start with the statewide rent for your unit size, find your part of the state in the county and city tables, add the planning estimates that apply to you, then replace them with the listing's actual rent and charges.

Is New Jersey an Expensive State to Live In?

By rent, yes. New Jersey's statewide median is 43% above the national median and $30 below New York State's. New York City's citywide median is $612 above it and Philadelphia's $539 below.

Apartment List medians across all apartment sizes, August 2026. Percentages use New Jersey's median as the base. Citywide and statewide medians are separate measures, shown together so you can see where each sits; the table compares medians only.

The two-bedroom gap with the national median is the widest of the three unit sizes: $2,105 against $1,376, or 53% more, compared with 38.8% for one-bedrooms ($1,695 against $1,221) and 43% overall.

Beyond Rent: Electricity, Commuting, and Taxes

Electricity. New Jersey's average residential electric bill was $128 a month in 2024, the latest annual figure from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, averaged across all housing types. Prices have risen since. The state's average residential price in July 2026 was 25.19 cents per kilowatt-hour (EIA), about 30% above the 2024 average. At that price, the 2024 average household's usage would cost an estimated $167 a month. Your bill will vary with your usage and with which utilities the rent includes.

Transportation. A PATH 30-day unlimited pass is $131.50 for one rider from any PATH station (Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 2026). The New Jersey stations are in Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Hoboken. NJ Transit fares vary by zone.

Taxes. New Jersey's income tax is graduated, with rates that rise with income. The top rate of 10.75% applies only at the highest incomes (New Jersey Division of Taxation). The state sales tax rate is 6.625%. Most clothing and grocery food are exempt (New Jersey Division of Taxation). Property tax is billed to the property's owner, so renters do not receive a bill. The state's 2025 average residential bill of $10,570 (New Jersey Department of Community Affairs) describes what homeowners pay.

How Rent Changes Across New Jersey

Apartment List publishes August 2026 medians for 13 of New Jersey's 21 counties and for nine cities. Four of the 13 counties are above the statewide median of $1,986 and nine are below it; six of the nine cities are above it. Counties are grouped here into North, Central, and South Jersey. Rents in the tables are Apartment List monthly medians for August 2026; "vs. NJ" compares each overall median with the statewide $1,986.

North Jersey

Central Jersey

South Jersey

All three South Jersey counties shown have rents below the statewide median. Central Jersey spans a wider range, from Mercer County at 14.8% below the statewide median to Somerset County at 14.7% above it. In North Jersey, three counties are above the median (Hudson, Bergen, and Morris) and three are below it, and Passaic County, at 9.4% below, borders Bergen at 9.5% above.

Rent by City

Apartment List monthly medians, August 2026. Harrison's one-bedroom and two-bedroom medians are measured separately and the one-bedroom figure is above the two-bedroom figure this month, so both are left out.

Five of the nine cities shown are in Hudson County, so the city table is concentrated in one part of North Jersey. Hoboken's medians are above New York City's on every unit size; Newark's one-bedroom median of $1,268 is about 4% above the national one-bedroom median of $1,221, and Jersey City's $2,472 is about twice it. Rents within a city vary by neighborhood and building.

How Much Income Do You Need to Rent in New Jersey?

New Jersey's median one-bedroom rent of $1,695 corresponds to about $67,800 in annual income before taxes when rent takes 30% of income. A median-priced two-bedroom, at $2,105, corresponds to about $84,200 in combined annual income, or $42,100 each for two renters splitting rent equally.

These calculations use Apartment List's August 2026 rent estimates and cover rent alone. Utilities and other expenses affect how much you can comfortably afford, so treat the figures as rent-affordability benchmarks rather than a full budget. The 30% share is the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) affordability standard; HUD's version counts rent and utilities together, so adding the 2024 average electric bill of $128 a month to the one-bedroom rent raises the household figure by about $5,100 a year, or about half that per renter when two split the bill.

The tables apply the same calculation to each city's medians for the eight cities with one- and two-bedroom figures in Apartment List's August 2026 data, listed by population after the statewide row. Paterson, Elizabeth, Trenton, and Camden have no city-level figures that month, so a second table shows their counties' medians instead.

Estimated annual household income before taxes, with rent at 30% of income

County medians used for cities without city-level figures

Rent x 12 / 0.30, using Apartment List's August 2026 medians, rounded to the nearest $10; rent alone. Two renters splitting a two-bedroom equally would each need half the two-bedroom figure. A county median describes the whole county, so a city's own median may sit above or below its county's figure.

On the one-bedroom median, the range runs from $50,720 in Newark to $127,000 in Hoboken. Working the other way, 30% of a $70,000 income is $1,750 a month, above the one-bedroom median in ten of the 13 counties shown; Hudson ($2,089), Somerset ($1,961), and Bergen ($1,909) are the exceptions.

Two renters splitting the $2,105 two-bedroom equally pay about $1,053 each before utilities and fees, about $640 a month less per renter than the $1,695 one-bedroom median. The statewide two-bedroom median is $410, or 24.2%, above the one-bedroom median.

The Apartment List Cost of Living Calculator uses after-tax income and costs beyond rent, so it produces a different estimate.

Are New Jersey Rents Rising or Falling?

Rising, slowly, at the state level. New Jersey's median rent was 0.5% higher in August 2026 than a year earlier, while the national median was 0.8% lower (Apartment List, August 2026). Since 2023, the two have moved in opposite directions each August, though New Jersey's August gain never exceeded 1.6% in those years. Over a longer window, New Jersey's median is up 29.4% since March 2020, against 19.7% nationally.

Within the state, medians rose over the past year in five of the 13 counties shown and fell in eight, led down by Passaic County at 4.7%; among the nine cities, seven rose, led by Hoboken at 4.5%, and Newark and Harrison fell (Apartment List, August 2026).

The Short Answer on New Jersey's Cost of Living

New Jersey is an expensive state to rent in, and where you rent inside it matters as much as the statewide figure. On rent alone at the 30% benchmark, a one-bedroom corresponds to about $67,800 a year in household income statewide, from about $50,720 in Newark to about $127,000 in Hoboken.

• All three South Jersey counties shown fall below the statewide median. Camden County has the lowest median among the 13 counties covered, at $1,675.
• North Jersey is split. Hudson, Bergen, and Morris are above the median; Essex, Union, and Passaic are below it.
• Newark's median rent is 14.8% below the statewide median; Jersey City's is 27.2% above it. A budget set to one may not cover the other.
• For New York City commuters, Hudson and Bergen are the counties across the river; for Philadelphia, Camden, Gloucester, and Burlington.

Check which utilities a listing includes. The published electricity average covers all housing types, and an apartment's bill will vary with usage. To compare a specific New Jersey city with where you live now, the Apartment List Cost of Living Calculator works from after-tax income and covers costs beyond rent. For commuting, schools, and daily life, see our guide to living in New Jersey.

Appendix: Methodology and Data Sources

Apartment List reports median rents on new leases. Each geography and bedroom size has a separate series. North, Central, and South Jersey are editorial groupings used in this guide.

How we calculated the estimates

• Income: Monthly rent × 40 gives annual household income before taxes at the rent-only 30% benchmark, rounded to $10. Conversely, $70,000 × 30% ÷ 12 gives a $1,750 monthly rent budget.
• Sharing: Half the statewide two-bedroom median is $1,052.50 per renter, corresponding to $42,100 in annual income each. Compared with the one-bedroom median, the rent difference is $642.50 per renter.
• Bedroom difference: $2,105 − $1,695 = $410, or 24.2% of the one-bedroom median.
• Electricity: 2024 usage × July 2026 price gives 662 kWh × $0.2519 = $166.76, rounded to $167. This is a modeled estimate. EIA's averages cover residential accounts across all housing types.
• Electricity and income: The published 2024 bill adds $128.13 × 40 = $5,125 to the annual income benchmark, rounded to $5,100. An equal split halves that increase.
• Rent changes: Annual changes compare the same month a year earlier; historical August comparisons cover 2023–2026. Changes use overall rent medians. Growth since March 2020 comes directly from Apartment List's summary data.

Income figures are planning calculations covering rent, plus electricity where specified. They are not measured incomes or complete living budgets.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Cost of Living in New Jersey

Is Living in New Jersey Expensive?

Yes, by rent. New Jersey's median rent of $1,986 is 43% above the national median of $1,390 as of August 2026, according to the Apartment List Rent Index, and only Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, New York, and the District of Columbia have a higher statewide median in that month's data. Electricity prices also run above the national average: 25.19 cents per kilowatt-hour in July 2026 against 18.31 nationally (EIA).

What Salary Is Needed to Live Comfortably in New Jersey?

On rent alone, New Jersey's median one-bedroom rent of $1,695 corresponds to about $67,800 a year in income before taxes, with rent at 30% of income. The $2,105 two-bedroom median corresponds to about $84,200 in household income. Two renters splitting that two-bedroom equally would each need about $42,100 (Apartment List, August 2026).

On the same calculation, one-bedroom medians correspond to about $50,720 a year in Newark, $56,000 to $58,000 in Mercer and Camden counties, $98,880 in Jersey City, and $127,000 in Hoboken. These are rent-affordability benchmarks; a comfortable salary also depends on utilities, transportation, savings, and everything else in your budget.

What Is the Median Rent in New Jersey in 2026?

As of August 2026, $1,986 a month across all apartment sizes, according to the Apartment List Rent Index; the median one-bedroom is $1,695 and the median two-bedroom $2,105.

What Is the Average Rent in New Jersey?

Apartment List reports medians rather than averages. The median is the middle of the market, with half of rents above it and half below, and a few very high or very low rents move it less than they would move an average. As of August 2026, New Jersey's statewide median across all apartment sizes is $1,986 (Apartment List).

Is New Jersey Cheaper Than New York?

On rent, yes. New Jersey's August 2026 statewide median of $1,986 is $30 (1.5%) below New York State's $2,016 and $612 (23.6%) below New York City's citywide median of $2,598 (Apartment List Rent Index). Hudson County, the state's highest-rent county in that data, has a one-bedroom median of $2,089 against New York City's $2,480.

Which Part of New Jersey Has the Lowest Rent?

Among the 13 counties covered by Apartment List's August 2026 estimates, Camden County has the lowest overall median rent at $1,675, 15.7% below the statewide median. All three South Jersey counties shown fall below the statewide median. On one-bedrooms, Mercer County is lowest at $1,397. Among the nine cities published, Newark is lowest at $1,692 and Hoboken highest at $3,738.

How Much Is Electricity in New Jersey?

New Jersey's average residential electric bill was $128 a month in 2024, averaged across all housing types (EIA). Prices have risen about 30% since then; at the July 2026 average price, the 2024 average household's usage would cost an estimated $167 a month. An apartment's bill will vary with usage and with which utilities the rent includes.

Do Renters Pay Property Tax in New Jersey?

No bill comes to renters. Property tax is billed to the property's owner; the state's average residential property tax bill of $10,570 in 2025 (New Jersey Department of Community Affairs) describes what homeowners pay.

Is 30% of Income a Hard Limit for Rent?

No. It is a planning benchmark. HUD calls households spending more than 30% of income on housing cost-burdened and more than 50% severely cost-burdened; Apartment List's research found that about 51.8% of U.S. renter households spent more than 30% and 26.1% more than 50%, based on 2024 American Community Survey data. The question is what the rest of your budget can absorb.