Pay and cost of living in Essex County, NJ
Essex County, NJ is part of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ labor market, and this page summarizes 237 occupations with published wages there. The median of their median salaries is $77,400 a year. The best-paid occupation listed is Anesthesiologists at $460,800, and the lowest is Manicurists and Pedicurists at $34,910.
A one-bedroom apartment in Essex County, NJ has a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,850 a month and a two-bedroom $2,233. Rent, food, home energy and gasoline for one adult add up to $29,681 a year. After federal, FICA and state income taxes, the average occupation here takes home $65,930 a year, and 236 of the 237 occupations listed here (100%) earn enough take-home pay to cover the four basics.
Each occupation links to a detailed page with gross pay, take-home pay, rent, food and energy costs, and the monthly budget margin. All pages share one method, which makes it easy to compare jobs inside Essex County, NJ or against other counties.
Housing, taxes and commute in Essex County, NJ
The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Essex County, NJ, set beside the New Jersey and national medians.
Median household income in Essex County, NJ is $80,789, 22% below the New Jersey median of $103,556 and $80,734 nationally. A year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent ($22,200) equals 27.5% of that income. The median of the occupation medians listed here, $77,400, is 4% below household income, which is expected because a household can hold more than one earner.
Homeowners in Essex County, NJ pay a median of $10,001 a year in real estate taxes, 4% above the New Jersey median of $9,590. With a median home value of $524,100, 15% above the New Jersey median of $454,400, the ratio of the two medians is 1.91% a year.
Renters in Essex County, NJ pay a median gross rent of $1,531 a month in the Census survey, 11% below the New Jersey median of $1,720. HUD's one-bedroom Fair Market Rent used for the budgets on this site is $1,850; the Census figure covers rental units of every size.
Workers in Essex County, NJ who travel to a workplace spend an average of 33.6 minutes each way, 10% above the New Jersey average of 30.5. 16.1% of workers work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally.