Elizabeth, New Jersey Cost Of Living

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Overall 18%

Goods & Services 15%

Housing 33%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2019 and was released from C2ER in January, 2020; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Elizabeth	New Jersey	National
Cost of living	118	123	100
Goods & Services	115	111	100
Groceries	110	110	100
Health care	97	102	100
Housing	133	158	100
Transportation	112	110	100
Utilities	105	100	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Elizabeth is 5% lower than the New Jersey average
The cost of living in Elizabeth is 18% higher than the national average
Elizabeth housing is 33% higher than the national average
New Jersey general sales tax is 30% higher than the national average
New Jersey state income tax is 43% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$72,778	$6,065	$1,698	$2,184
Renters	$38,013	$3,168	$887	$1,141

The percentage of monthly income spent on housing related expenses can help predict the affordability of housing in Elizabeth, NJ, as well as what the overall cost of living might be. Generally, a good rule to follow is that the debt-to-income (DTI) level you want to maintain is 28 percent or less of your income on your rent or mortgage payments and not more than 36 percent of income on all expenses and debts. In Elizabeth, homeowners have a median income of $72,778. Using that number, a maximum of $1,698 per month should be allocated to housing expenses. For those who are renting instead of owning, the median income is $38,013, which means there is a maximum of $887 to be spent on the costs of renting a home or apartment.

New Jersey Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
New Jersey	6.625%	12.625%

New Jersey Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
New Jersey	1.4%	10.75%

Goods & Services

Item	Elizabeth	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$20.60	$17.49	17.8%
Beauty Salon	$38.40	$38.17	0.6%
Toothpaste	$2.01	$2.32	13.4%
Shampoo	$0.99	$1.01	2.2%
Movie	$12.98	$10.72	21.0%
Bowling	$18.00	$13.86	29.9%

Groceries

Item	Elizabeth	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.11	$3.90	5.4%
Fried Chicken	$1.66	$1.40	18.9%
Milk	$2.15	$1.96	9.6%
Potatoes	$3.39	$3.18	6.5%
Pizza	$11.99	$10.39	15.4%
Beer	$9.19	$9.23	0.4%

Health Care

Item	Elizabeth	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$106.00	$106.34	0.3%
Doctor	$91.00	$115.25	21.0%
Dentist	$102.00	$98.38	3.7%
Ibuprofen	$8.51	$9.26	8.1%
Lipitor	$532.99	$466.47	14.3%

Housing

Item	Elizabeth	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$262,300.00	$184,700.00	42.0%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$2,067.45	$1,273.32	62.4%
Apartment Rent	$1,074.00	$949.00	13.2%

Transportation

Item	Elizabeth	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.75	$2.59	5.9%
Tire Balancing	$61.40	$48.90	25.6%

Utilities

Item	Elizabeth	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$186.95	$167.60	11.5%
Phone	$177.03	$163.42	8.3%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
East Orange, NJ	64,621	111	11%
Roselle, NJ	21,507	111	11%
Newark, NJ	280,139	112	12%
Silver Lake, NJ	4,007	114	14%
Plainfield, NJ	50,578	115	15%
Elizabeth, NJ	128,042	118	18%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Midland, TX	128,051	105	5%
Roseville, CA	128,276	133	33%
Coral Springs, FL	127,673	117	17%
Denton, TX	128,421	92	-8%
Surprise, AZ	127,492	102	2%
Elizabeth, NJ	128,042	118	18%

Source: The Elizabeth, NJ cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2019.