How much do households in New Jersey spend on rent?
About $1,555 per month, or 32.8% of their income, in 2022. This is measured by comparing median rent and median monthly income for renting households.
Showing data for
In 2022, median rent was
32.8%
of median income
In 2022,
$1.6K
was the median rent per month
Comparing rent to renter income provides one measure of rental affordability. Dividing rent by income provides what is called a rent-to-income ratio. A higher ratio of rent-to-income indicates rent is less affordable while a lower ratio indicates it’s more affordable.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development considers households with a rent-to-income ratio of more than 30%, that is, 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. When median monthly rent is more than 30% of average monthly income, it means a typical household would meet the definition of housing cost-burdened.
New Jersey's rent-to-income ratio was higher than in the US overall in 2022.
Ratio of median gross rent to median renter household income
Subscribe to get unbiased, data-driven insights sent to your inbox weekly.
The national rent-to-income ratio reached a high of 33.8% in 2011 following the Great Recession. In New Jersey, the rent-to-income ratio reached 35.7% that year. Most recently, in 2022, New Jersey’s rent-to-income ratio was 32.8%, 1.1 percentage points higher than the national rate.
Across metro areas, the average rent-to-income ratio was 30.8% in 2018–2022.
Ratio of median gross rent to median renter household income, 2018–2022
In 2018–2022, the average rent-to-income ratio across metro areas was 30.8%. The metro areas with the highest and lowest ratios were the Mayagüez, Puerto Rico area at 56.9% (highest) and Sheboygan, Wisconsin area, at 21.7% (lowest). In New Jersey, the highest and lowest were Vineland, NJ area at 41.9% and Trenton, NJ area at 32.7%.
During that period, the Trenton, NJ area had the highest median rent at $1,454 per month and the highest median monthly income at $4,440 out of four New Jersey metro areas. The rent-to-income ratio in Trenton was the fourth highest in the state.
Renter income and rent, New Jersey metro areas (2018–2022)
| 1. | Atlantic City, NJ area | $3,258 |
| 2. | Ocean City, NJ area | $3,505 |
| 3. | Trenton, NJ area | $4,440 |
| 4. | Vineland, NJ area | $2,868 |
