Bold statement: New Jersey now sits among the top earners in the nation, with median incomes climbing to levels that place it just behind the very highest states—and the figures keep rising. But here’s where it gets controversial: how these numbers translate into everyday life for families—and what they mean for policy, cost of living, and opportunity across the state.
Here’s a clear, beginner-friendly rewrite of the key data and context:
New Jersey’s median household income reached $104,294 in 2025, according to the American Community Survey, marking an increase from $99,781 the prior year. This keeps New Jersey as the second-highest earning state for the second consecutive year. Only Massachusetts posted a higher median income in 2025, at $104,828.
When you widen the lens to include Washington, D.C., residents actually earn more on average. The District’s median household income stood at $109,707 in 2024.
The Census defines a household as any group of people living in the same housing unit. Beyond overall household income, the Census also breaks out medians for narrower groups, such as families, non-family households, and married-couple families.
In New Jersey, the highest-income category is married-couple families in the state. Nationwide, these households in Washington, D.C. had the highest earnings, with a median income of $228,926 in the last available year. By contrast, the lowest median income among the groups tracked was for non-family households in West Virginia, at $33,866.
Within New Jersey, families and married-couple households ranked fourth nationally for income in 2025, with only Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and Maryland higher. Non-family households in New Jersey ranked seventh nationally.
If you’d like to visualize the data, a map is available through the data visualization link used in the original report.
About the reporter: Katie Kausch is a data reporter for NJ.com, covering education, politics, and health, with a background in breaking news and courts reporting.
Controversial takeaway question: Do rising median incomes reflect real improvements in living standards when costs such as housing, healthcare, and taxes also rise—and how should policymakers balance wage growth with affordability? Share your thoughts in the comments: is New Jersey truly becoming a middle-class paradise, or are rising costs erasing the benefits of higher incomes?
