According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in New Jersey is just over $97,000.

While that is an impressive number, we all know just how expensive it is to live here. By the time you pay taxes on everything, there's not much left — and it was like that well before rapid inflation made everything much worse.

As for taxes in the Garden State, well, you know exactly how things are. According to NJ.com,

  • Statewide average property tax bill increased to a record high of $9,490 in 2022, an increase of $206 from the previous year
  • Median property taxes paid in the Garden State was #1 in the nation at $8,797 — more than $2,500 higher than second place Connecticut.

New Jersey's high poverty rate

While the average household brings in nearly $100,000 a year, the poverty rate in Garden State is rather high.

According to the Census Bureau, 9.7% of people in New Jersey live in poverty.

New Jersey's poorest neighborhoods

With that in mind, if someone asked you which neighborhoods in the state were the poorest, you would probably immediately think of the usual places like Trenton, Camden, etc.

700 block of State Street in Camden NJ - Photo: Google Maps
700 block of State Street in Camden NJ - Photo: Google Maps
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But if someone asked you to list the 30 poorest spots in New Jersey, those stereotypical cities would only get you so far. You might still have a dozen or even two dozen empty spots to fill.

Let's look at the 30 poorest neighborhoods in the Garden State — some of these will definitely surprise you. In fact, you might live in one of these locales and not even realize it.

30 'poorest' neighborhoods in NJ

These ZIP codes in New Jersey have the highest percentage of households earning less than $25,000 in annual median income. The figures are based on 5-year data by the U.S. Census American Community Survey as of 2021.

Gallery Credit: New Jersey 101.5

Ranking the Richest Counties in New Jersey

This is a list of the median household incomes in all 21 New Jersey counties from poorest to richest.

Gallery Credit: Jen Ursillo

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