If you own a home in New Jersey, you already know property taxes are a significant part of your budget. But most homeowners never get a clear picture of where that money actually goes.
With the release of the 2025 New Jersey Property Tax data from the Department of Community Affairs, we now have a detailed look at how tax dollars are collected and distributed across all 565 municipalities in the state.
Here is a straightforward breakdown of the numbers.
What NJ Homeowners Are Paying
Across all 565 municipalities in New Jersey, the average residential property tax bill in 2025 is $10,597. This is one of the main reasons NJ takes the top spot for outbound migrations.
The median, the midpoint where half of towns fall above and half below, sits at $9,933. That gap tells us that a handful of very high-tax towns pull the average up.
The range across the state is striking. Tavistock Borough in Camden County has the highest average residential tax bill in the state at $38,387, while Walpack Township in Sussex County has the lowest at just $1,143. That is a difference of over $37,000 per year — illustrating just how much your town and county of residence affects your tax burden.
In total, New Jersey collected approximately $72.3 billion in property taxes in 2025 across all municipalities.
How Your Tax Dollar Is Split
Every property tax bill in New Jersey is divided among three recipients: your local school district, your municipality, and your county.
Here is how the average dollar breaks down statewide in 2025:
- Schools: 52.2% of every tax dollar
- Municipality (local government): 28.3% of every tax dollar
- County government: 19.5% of every tax dollar
What does that mean in real dollars?
For a homeowner paying the statewide average of $10,597, roughly $5,532 goes to schools, $2,999 goes to local municipal services, and $2,066 goes to county government.
The school share is by far the largest, reflecting New Jersey’s model of primarily funding public education through local property taxes rather than state-level funding. This then raises the question why are so many schools facing deficits from $5 million to $100 million?
This is one of the main reasons NJ property taxes rank among the highest in the nation, and why towns with larger school budgets tend to carry higher tax rates overall.
Where You Live Matters: Average Tax by County
Property taxes vary enormously depending on which county you call home.
Here is the average residential property tax for each of New Jersey’s 21 counties in 2025, ranked from highest to lowest:
- Essex – $15,659
- Bergen – $14,563
- Morris – $12,606
- Union – $12,573
- Somerset – $12,467
- Mercer – $12,411
- Monmouth – $12,124
- Passaic – $11,840
- Hunterdon – $11,121
- Hudson – $10,049
- Middlesex – $9,976
- Ocean – $9,270
- Camden – $8,835
- Sussex – $8,421
- Warren – $8,377
- Gloucester – $7,928
- Burlington – $7,860
- Atlantic – $7,247
- Salem – $6,607
- Cape May – $6,454
- Cumberland – $5,078
Essex County tops the list at $15,659, followed closely by Bergen at $14,563. At the other end of the spectrum, Cumberland County homeowners pay an average of $5,078, less than a third of what Essex County residents pay. The county you live in is often the single biggest factor in your tax bill after your home’s assessed value.
What Changed From 2024 to 2025
Comparing the 2024 and 2025 data across all 565 municipalities we can see that the vast majority of towns saw taxes rise. There were a small number of towns that actually saw a decrease.
The towns with the steepest dollar increases were concentrated in Monmouth County, which had four municipalities in the top ten.
Deal Borough led all towns with an average increase of $2,312 (9.9%), while Millstone Borough had the sharpest percentage jump at 21.7%.
On the flip side, Allenhurst Borough, also in Monmouth County, had the biggest decrease in the state, with average taxes dropping by $2,219 (10.2%).
The top 10 towns that saw the biggest increase by dollar amount from 2024 to 2025.
Deal Borough – $2,312.39 (9.9%)
Asbury Park City – $1,867.27 (20.1%)
Loch Arbour Village – $1,705.75 (14.1%)
Bay Head Borough – $1,586.70 (9.6%)
Millstone Borough – $1,571.70 (21.7%)
Mantoloking Borough – $1,562.69 (6.4%)
Essex Fells Township – $1,475.16 (7.2%)
Neptune Township – $1,470.20 (15.7%)
Chester Borough – $1,422.27 (10.2%)
Hillsborough Township – $1,415.75 (12.4%)
The 10 towns that saw the biggest decrease by dollar amount from 2024 to 2025.
Allenhurst Borough – -$2,218.71 (10.2%)
Shrewsbury Township – -$519.99 (9.2%)
Fairfield Township (Essex) – -$481.63 (4.2%)
Far Hills Borough – -$453.02 (2.9%)
Franklin Township – -$338.24 (3.4%)
Alpha Borough – -$294.60 (4.4%)
West Cape May Borough – -$191.43 (2.6%)
Morris Township – -$138.68 (1.2%)
Stow Creek Township – -$89.43 (1.6%)
Harmony Township – -$88.56 (1.5%)
Why Do Property Taxes Differ So Much Town to Town?
Several factors drive the differences between municipalities:
- School budget size: Towns that spend more per pupil — or have fewer students to spread costs across — tend to have higher school tax rates.
- Property values: Higher assessed values can sometimes mean lower rates, since the same levy is spread across more total value. But it also means your individual bill can still be high.
- Municipal services: Towns that provide more local services — their own police, public works, parks — generally have higher municipal tax rates.
- State aid: Municipalities and school districts that receive more state aid can offset some of the burden on local taxpayers.
New Jersey’s property tax system is complex, but the core reality is straightforward: more than half of what you pay goes directly to fund your local public schools, with the rest split between your town and county. The wide variation across municipalities means that where you choose to live — or where you are considering buying — can have a significant impact on your annual tax burden.
The full 2025 dataset covers all 565 municipalities and is published by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. If you want to look up your specific town’s numbers, the data breaks down taxes by school, municipal, and county share at the individual municipality level.
