In 2023, New Jersey maintained its position as one of the states with the highest median household incomes in the United States. According to data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, New Jersey's median household income was $99,781, second only to Massachusetts at $99,858. This represented a 3.6% increase from the previous year for New Jersey, slightly below the national growth rate of 4%, which brought the U.S. median income to $77,719.
Housing costs in New Jersey remained among the nation's highest, though their growth rate was slower than most states. The state saw a 4.8% increase in median owner costs for housing with a mortgage, ranking it 43rd nationally and well below the national rate of 7.2%. Consequently, New Jersey's median monthly housing costs were $2,676 in 2023, placing it seventh nationally compared to third in 2022.
Despite this relative slowing of cost increases, more homeowners found themselves spending over 30% of their income on housing costs—31.7% in 2023 compared to 31.5% in 2022—raising New Jersey's rank from sixth to fifth place behind Hawaii, California, Florida, and New York.
For renters in New Jersey, median rents increased by 7.2%, slightly less than the national average of 8.2%, reaching $1,667 and ranking eighth nationwide compared to seventh previously. The percentage of cost-burdened renters decreased from 49.7% in 2022 to 48.5% in 2023 as renter household incomes rose by an impressive 8.3%.
Lower-income households continue to face significant challenges due to high housing costs; about three-quarters of those earning under $75,000 are considered cost-burdened with rent and utilities exceeding more than a third of their income.
The data used for this analysis comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey for both years mentioned.
