Here’s what you need to earn to be among the top 10% in New Jersey

Oh, how the other half live. Forget the other half. What about how the other 10% live?

We all know New Jersey is expensive. Even when you're making what on paper sounds like good money, you might feel like you can never get ahead. Property taxes are the highest in the country. Housing is impossible. If you could bring your same income but earn it while magically living in Kentucky or West Virginia, you’d likely be living like royalty.

So, how much would you need to make to be among New Jersey’s top 10%? A study done by Hello Millions calculated the income you’d need to be in the top 10% of earners in each state. They did it using 2022 IRS data linking at each state’s 90th percentile and also making inflation adjustments.

Maybe to no one’s surprise, the state where you’d need the lowest income to hit the top 10% is Mississippi. If you lived there and earned $157,350, you’d be in the 10% club.

But here in New Jersey? Oof. Way more, which of course is also no surprise.

To be among New Jersey’s top 10%, you need to earn $263,265. But here, does that feel “elite” to you?

In Mississippi, the average cost of a home is $181,232. In New Jersey, the average cost of a home is $548,338. The average property tax in Mississippi is a little over $1,000 per year. New Jersey’s is $10,095.

Our 10% doesn’t seem so elite now, does it? But again, if you’re earning $263,265, you’re in it here in Jersey. We’re No. 2 in the nation for the highest income needed to be in each state’s top 10%. No. 1 is Massachusetts, where you’d need to earn $274,182.

But then you’d have to also follow the Red Sox, so I guess things could be worse.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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