A new housing report says New Jersey is now the fifth most expensive state for renters, with wages failing to keep pace as housing costs continue to rise.
WEBDESK – HAJIRA IRFAN – NJNEWSLINE
New Jersey Climbs to Fifth on America’s Least Affordable Rental List
For millions of New Jersey residents, finding an affordable place to live is becoming even more challenging. A new national housing report has ranked the Garden State as the fifth most expensive state for renters , showing that rental prices are rising much faster than workers’ paychecks.
The findings come from the Out of Reach 2026 report, published by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey. The annual report measures the hourly wage a full-time worker must earn to afford a rental home without spending more than 30% of their income on housing a benchmark widely used to define affordability.
The latest figures show New Jersey has become even less affordable than in recent years, moving up from seventh to fifth among the nation’s least affordable rental markets.
The Numbers Paint a Troubling Picture
The report estimates that a full-time worker in New Jersey now needs to earn $43.89 per hour to comfortably afford a modest two-bedroom apartment.
By comparison, the average renter earns only $24.92 per hour , creating a wage gap of $18.97 every hour worked. While renter wages increased by just 95 cents over the past year, the required housing wage climbed by $3.90 , making it harder for many households to keep up.
Fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment has now reached $2,282 per month , reflecting the growing cost of living across the state.
Minimum-Wage Workers Face an Uphill Battle
The affordability gap is even wider for residents earning New Jersey’s minimum wage of $15.92 per hour.
According to the report, a minimum-wage worker would need to work about 93 hours each week to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment. Renting a two-bedroom home would require roughly 110 to 112 hours of work every week—equal to nearly 2.8 full-time jobs
Those figures highlight the growing strain on workers who are already juggling rising costs for groceries, transportation, healthcare and other everyday necessities.
Hudson County Leads the State in Rental Costs
Housing costs vary significantly across New Jersey, but Hudson County remains the state’s most expensive rental market, with fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment reaching $2,763 per month.
It is followed by Hunterdon, Middlesex and Somerset counties, where rental prices also rank among the highest statewide.
Meanwhile, Cape May County stands out as one of the least affordable counties relative to local wages, illustrating that even areas with comparatively lower rents remain financially out of reach for many workers.
Millions of Residents Feel the Impact
New Jersey has more than 3.5 million households, and about 36% of them rent their homes. Renting is especially common in Hudson County, where nearly 69% of households are renters, followed by Essex County at 55%.
Housing advocates say these numbers underscore a growing affordability crisis that is affecting not only low-income families but also many middle-income workers who are finding it increasingly difficult to remain in the communities where they live and work.
A Growing Crisis That Demands Action
Only California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and New York rank ahead of New Jersey for rental costs, placing the Garden State among the nation’s least affordable places to rent.
As rents continue to rise faster than wages, housing advocates warn that the gap between income and housing costs is becoming unsustainable. Without stronger efforts to expand affordable housing and improve access for working families, more New Jersey residents could find themselves priced out of the communities they call home, turning today’s affordability challenge into tomorrow’s housing crisis.
