How many households in New Jersey spend too much on housing?
Updates published annually
About 1.3 million in 2023. That’s 36.4% of all New Jersey households. These households spent at least 30% of their total income on rent or mortgage payments and utilities. The Department of Housing and Urban Development considers households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing to be cost-burdened. Cost-burdened households may have less money for other necessities such as food, healthcare, or savings.
In 2023,
1.3M
households were cost burdened
In 2023,
36.4%
of households were cost burdened
The number of cost-burdened households in New Jersey remained at 1.3 million from 2013 to 2023. Cost burden considers both household income and housing costs, so factors affecting either of these can influence the number of burdened households. For example:
- Changes in wages, employment status, or the number of people in a household can impact household income.
- Changes in housing supply/demand or interest rates can affect costs.
A growing or declining US population can also affect the number of cost-burdened households. To counteract this, USAFacts analyzed the percentages of cost-burdened households rather than just the number. This prevents such population changes from skewing the data.
In 2023, 36.4% of New Jersey households were cost burdened, higher than the national average of 32.8%.
In New Jersey, 36.4% of households were cost burdened in 2023.
Share of households that spent at least 30% of their income on housing
Cost burden varies for renters and homeowners. For example, during the Great Recession (2007–2009) unemployment rose, millions of homes entered foreclosure, and rental demand increased. By 2010, cost burden had increased among renters while staying flat among homeowner households.
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Since 2013, the proportion of cost-burdened owner households in New Jersey has decreased from 36.5% to 28.4% in 2023. Meanwhile, cost burden decreased from 53.8% to 51.1% among renter households.
In New Jersey, 51.1% of renter and 28.4% of owner households were cost burdened in 2023.
Share of households that spent at least 30% of their income on housing
In 2019–2023, the share of owner households in metro areas that were cost burdened was 22.3%. The metro areas with the highest and lowest share of cost-burdened owner households were the Miami, FL area at 33.9% (highest) and Columbus, IN area, at 13.0% (lowest). In New Jersey, the highest and lowest were Atlantic City, NJ area at 29.5% and Trenton, NJ area at 25.2%.
Across metro areas, 22.4% of owner households were cost burdened.
Share of owner households that spent at least 30% of their income on housing, 2019–2023
In 2019–2023, the share of renter households in metro areas that were cost burdened was 51.1%. The metro areas in the US with the highest and lowest share of cost-burdened renter households were the Miami, FL area at 63.1% (highest) and Sheboygan, WI area at 31.9% (lowest). In New Jersey, the highest and lowest were Atlantic City, NJ area at 55.3% and Trenton, NJ area at 50.7%.
Across metro areas, 51.2% of renter households were cost burdened.
Share of renter households that spent at least 30% of their income on housing, 2019–2023
The difference between the cost-burdened share of owner and renter households was narrowest in the Trenton, NJ area, where cost burden was 25.5 percentage points higher among renters than owners, and highest in the Atlantic City, NJ area where the gap was 25.8 percentage points. Within the state overall, the gap was 22.7 percentage points.
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Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.
