Plainfield, New Jersey Cost Of Living

F

13%

Overall NAT. AVG.

8%

Goods & Services NAT. AVG.

26%

Housing NAT. AVG.

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2022 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; 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	Plainfield	New Jersey	National
Cost of living	113	121	100
Goods & Services	108	105	100
Groceries	109	107	100
Health care	99	96	100
Housing	126	158	100
Transportation	106	105	100
Utilities	105	105	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Plainfield is 7% lower than the New Jersey average
The cost of living in Plainfield is 13% higher than the national average
Plainfield housing is 26% higher than the national average
New Jersey general sales tax is 30% higher than the national average
New Jersey state income tax is 38% 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	$87,744	$7,312	$2,047	$2,633
Renters	$30,828	$2,569	$719	$925

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Plainfield is by simply calculating the maximum that should be spent on housing, otherwise known as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The plan is to avoid spending more than 28 percent of the gross income on costs that pertain to housing and no more than 36 percent on all expenses and debts. Plainfield has a median income of about $87,744 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $2,047 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $30,828. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $719 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

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	Plainfield	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$20.73	$20.27	2.3%
Beauty Salon	$34.67	$40.39	14.2%
Toothpaste	$2.31	$2.36	2.1%
Shampoo	$1.42	$1.08	31.6%
Movie	$12.60	$10.99	14.7%
Bowling	$19.27	$15.49	24.4%

Groceries

Item	Plainfield	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.03	$4.30	6.1%
Fried Chicken	$1.97	$1.40	40.8%
Milk	$2.56	$2.20	16.4%
Potatoes	$3.26	$3.22	1.2%
Pizza	$11.26	$10.74	4.8%
Beer	$8.99	$9.60	6.3%

Health Care

Item	Plainfield	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$110.20	$109.73	0.4%
Doctor	$93.00	$118.34	21.4%
Dentist	$104.80	$100.94	3.8%
Ibuprofen	$9.46	$9.93	4.7%
Lipitor	$544.23	$469.53	15.9%

Housing

Item	Plainfield	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$235,800.00	$184,700.00	27.7%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,638.05	$1,229.62	33.2%
Apartment Rent	$1,158.00	$949.00	22.0%

Transportation

Item	Plainfield	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.83	$2.71	4.5%
Tire Balancing	$56.99	$51.86	9.9%

Utilities

Item	Plainfield	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$189.83	$170.84	11.1%
Phone	$183.25	$187.18	2.1%

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	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Zarephath, NJ	8	107	7.0%
Keansburg, NJ	9,904	107	7.0%
East Orange, NJ	64,621	110	9.7%
Roselle, NJ	21,507	110	10.0%
Newark, NJ	280,139	111	11.0%
Plainfield, NJ	50,578	113	12.7%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Apple Valley, MN	50,602	109	9.2%
Grapevine, TX	50,538	112	11.7%
Coral Gables, FL	50,533	167	66.6%
Kentwood, MI	50,761	92	8.5%
Tigard, OR	50,787	125	24.8%
Plainfield, NJ	50,578	113	12.7%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2022 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.