New Jersey vs Pennsylvania: which really costs more?
Neighbors with different income tax structures and a heavily-commuted border.
New Jersey
- State income tax
- 3.54%
- Rank of 51
- 27
- Combined sales tax
- 6.63%
- Rank of 51
- 30
Pennsylvania
- State income tax
- 3.07%
- Rank of 51
- 36
- Combined sales tax
- 6.34%
- Rank of 51
- 34
Income tax shown is the effective state rate on a $75,000 salary for a single filer; sales tax is the combined state and local rate in each state's representative county. Both figures come from the same verified datasets the calculator uses.
What things actually cost in each
Gross income required at a $75,000 salary, using each category's default assumptions — sorted by the biggest difference between the two states.
| Category | New Jersey | Pennsylvania | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car purchase | $144,521 | $137,056 | $7,465 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Wedding | $50,102 | $47,436 | $2,666 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Coffee habit | $27,407 | $25,992 | $1,415 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Car payment or lease | $18,174 | $17,283 | $891 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Funeral | $12,504 | $11,891 | $613 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Phone plan | $10,770 | $10,241 | $528 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Rent | $2,813 | $2,675 | $138 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Pet annual cost | $2,580 | $2,447 | $133 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Laptop or phone purchase | $2,000 | $1,897 | $103 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Childcare | $1,719 | $1,635 | $84 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Hotel stay | $1,093 | $1,040 | $54 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Health insurance premium | $703 | $669 | $35 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Student loan payment | $625 | $595 | $31 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Domestic flight | $512 | $487 | $25 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Utilities | $328 | $312 | $16 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Weekly groceries | $274 | $260 | $13 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Car insurance | $258 | $245 | $13 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Concert ticket | $228 | $216 | $12 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Restaurant dinner | $160 | $152 | $8 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Cannabis (legal states) | $111 | $105 | $5 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Internet service | $109 | $104 | $5 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Gym membership | $75 | $71 | $4 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Streaming bundle | $75 | $71 | $4 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Gas fill-up | $70 | $67 | $3 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Haircut | $66 | $62 | $3 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Pizza delivery | $62 | $59 | $3 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Food delivery | $59 | $56 | $3 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Soft drinks | $40 | $38 | $2 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Rideshare trip | $34 | $33 | $2 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Fast food meal | $20 | $19 | $1 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Bar drink | $18 | $17 | $1 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
| Cigarettes or vape | $15 | $14 | $1 cheaper in Pennsylvania |
Across the 32 categories we can compute for both states, Pennsylvania comes out cheaper more often. That is not the whole picture — housing costs, wages, and property tax vary far more than sales tax does, and none of those are modeled here. See limitations.