Moving from California to New Jersey
Everyone compares rent and groceries. Almost nobody compares the two numbers that actually decide whether a move works: state income tax and property tax. Here is California and New Jersey, side by side.
Moving to New Jersey costs about
-$550/mo
less than California each month, renting
Worth knowing
A cheaper house in New Jersey, a bigger property tax bill
The median home in New Jersey costs $454,400 against $734,700 in California, but you would pay about $9,588 a year in property tax rather than $5,143. The rate more than cancels the lower price.
California vs New Jersey at a glance
| California | New Jersey | |
|---|---|---|
| Median home price | $734,700 | $454,400 |
| Median rent | $2,036/mo | $1,720/mo |
| State income tax | Up to 13.30% | Up to 10.75% |
| Property tax rate | 0.70% | 2.11% |
| Groceries, gas & goods | 106 | 107 |
| Utilities | 159 | 114 |
Price levels are indexes where 100 is the national average. They cover everyday spending only; housing is the two rows above.
What changes each month
| Monthly | CA | NJ | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | |||
| Housing (median rent)Biggest factor | $2,036 | $1,720 | -$316 |
| Taxes | |||
| State income tax | $298 | $242 | -$56 |
| Sales tax (on everyday spending) | $120 | $106 | -$14 |
| Everyday costs | |||
| Groceries, gas & goods | $1,945 | $1,963 | +$18 |
| Utilities | $649 | $466 | -$183 |
| Total | -$550 | ||
What the move itself costs
$4,500 to $9,500
From a container you load yourself up to full-service movers.
Shipping one car adds about $1,150 to $1,550, against roughly $1,000 in fuel and lodging to drive it the 6-day trip yourself.
These are statewide figures. Los Angeles is not California-average and Trenton is not New Jersey-average, so a specific city can look nothing like its state. Compare metro areas instead to narrow it to 387 real places, including which side of a state line you would live on.
Run this with your own numbers
Estimates only, not advice. Housing and income figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (2024); price levels from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024); tax rates are for the 2026 tax year, compiled from state revenue departments and the Tax Foundation. Moving costs are modelled from published ranges rather than quoted. Every figure is a statewide median or average and will not match any particular household.