New Jersey sales tax, and who sets it
Tax year 2026
Set by the state
6.63%
Set locally
0%
statewide average
Combined
6.63%
Local share
0%
of what you pay
Work out the tax on a purchase in New Jersey
Add the tax on
6.625% effectiveThe general rate applies here: 6.625%, state and local combined. “Statewide average” is a comparison estimate. Named locations use the stored local rate; city and special-district coverage varies, so an address may differ. Rate source · as of 2026-07-01.
How New Jersey's sales tax is put together
- Every county in New Jersey charges the same rate, about 6.63%. Local governments have no power to add to it. So the number on this page is the number you will actually be charged, wherever in New Jersey you happen to be buying — which sounds ordinary and is not.
- No sales tax on groceries in New Jersey. Unprepared food is exempt outright, so what you save depends on how much of your shopping is raw ingredients rather than ready meals. That boundary is where the money actually is, and it catches people out constantly at the deli counter.
- New Jersey does not tax clothing. That is unusual: apparel is taxed at full rate in most of the country. It makes a real difference to a wardrobe or a school year of children's clothes, so long as what you are buying counts as clothing under the state's own definition rather than as an accessory.
- Local sales tax authority does not exist in New Jersey. The state rate of about 6.63% applies uniformly, and no county or municipal add-on is permitted. That makes this one of the few states where a single figure fully describes the sales tax on an ordinary purchase. Where local authority does exist, the combined rate is a function of the address rather than of the state, and comparisons drawn from state rates alone systematically understate the higher-delegation states.
- Grocery purchases are exempt from sales tax in New Jersey. Because the exemption is complete rather than reduced, the practical question for a shopper is classification rather than rate: prepared and heated foods generally fall outside the exemption and are taxed at the full combined rate. States drawing that boundary differently produce noticeably different effective rates on identical shopping baskets, which is why a grocery exemption is a weaker predictor of household sales tax burden than it first appears.
- Apparel is exempt from sales tax in New Jersey, against a national norm of taxing it at the full combined rate. The exemption is one of the larger structural differences between state sales tax bases and is usually invisible in headline rate comparisons, which measure the rate and not what it applies to. Statutory boundaries around footwear, athletic wear and accessories determine how much of a real basket the exemption actually reaches.
Sales tax on this purchase
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $6.63 |
|---|---|
| Rate appliedStatewide average | 6.63% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
Rates across this state
A $75,000 salary
| Counties in this state | 21 |
|---|---|
| Different rates among them | 1 |
| Lowest county rate | 6.63% |
| Highest county rate | 6.63% |
Most counties here share a rate with many others. The county line rarely changes what you pay.
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
At the register
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $6.63 |
|---|---|
| You hand over | $106.63 |
| Rate here | 6.63% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
How much of that was tax
A $75,000 salary
| Goods before tax | $100.35 |
|---|---|
| Rate applied | 6.63% |
Uses the selected combined rate for ordinary goods. Exempt items or a mixed receipt change the split.
Every county here
A $75,000 salary
| Lowest | 6.63% |
|---|---|
| Highest | 6.63% |
| Gap between them | 0% |
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
What gets taxed, in each
A $75,000 salary
New Jersey
Statewide average
Texas
Harris County (Houston)
- Sales tax
- Fuel
- Tobacco
| Category | New Jersey | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Groceries | Exempt | Exempt |
| Clothing at $100 | Exempt | 8.25% |
| Fuel | 10.5¢ | 20¢ |
| Tobacco | $3.00 | $1.41 |
Grocery and general rates use the locations named here. Clothing is one item priced at $100; a more expensive garment may be taxed differently. Fuel and tobacco have separate units and scales.
The split, county by county
The state rate is the same everywhere in New Jersey. Anything beyond it was decided by a county or a city. These counties are a sample chosen to show the range, not a complete list.
| County | State | Local | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide average | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Bergen County | same | 0% | 6.63% |
| Middlesex County (Edison / New Brunswick) | same | 0% | 6.63% |
What it costs on a thousand dollars
The same purchase in four categories, priced on average across New Jersey. A flat thousand dollars is used deliberately — this is New Jersey's own rate restated in money, not a claim about what anyone spends.
| What you're buying | Tax as share of price | Tax on $1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| General goods | 6.63% | $66 |
| Groceries | 0% | $0 |
| Prescription drugs | 0% | $0 |
| Clothing | 0% | $0 |
Every county in New Jersey
This is the whole state, not a sample — 21 counties, from 6.63% in Atlantic County up to 6.63% in Warren County. There is no local general-sales-tax add-on in New Jersey, so crossing a county line does not change this rate.
Complete county coverage for New Jersey: 21 counties spanning 6.63% (Atlantic County) to 6.63% (Warren County), across 1 distinct rates. These rows use the same general state rate because New Jersey has no local general-sales-tax add-on.
| County | State portion | County levy | Floor (state + county) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Bergen County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Burlington County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Camden County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Cape May County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Cumberland County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Essex County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Gloucester County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Hudson County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Hunterdon County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Mercer County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Middlesex County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Monmouth County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Morris County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Ocean County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Passaic County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Salem County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Somerset County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Sussex County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Union County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
| Warren County | 6.63% | 0% | 6.63% |
Streamlined Sales Tax member rate files plus individual state Department of Revenue rate tables — county-level rows only; city, transit and special-district levies excluded — as of 2026-01-01, last verified 2026-08-29.
What this page does not cover
- The first county table and calculator list are samples, but New Jersey has no local general-sales-tax add-on. Ordinary goods use the same about 6.63% rate across the state. A longer county list would not change that rate. What you buy still matters: category exemptions and separate taxes on meals or other purchases can change the bill.
- New Jersey taxes some things through this general rate and other things through taxes of their own. Fuel, alcohol and tobacco fall in the second group, and those charges sit inside the price rather than on the receipt. Vehicle purchases, hotel stays and eating out often add their own charges as well.
- An exemption is a category, not a promise. New Jersey decides for itself where each category stops — hot food is usually outside the grocery exemption, and accessories are often outside the clothing one. That boundary work is where the real difference between two states with the same rate turns up.
- New Jersey permits no local general-sales-tax add-on, so its representative location list does not imply rate variation: ordinary goods use the uniform about 6.63% state rate. Complete county-floor coverage, where shown separately, records that same rate. Category definitions, per-item exemptions and special transaction taxes remain separate questions; a uniform general rate does not establish the tax treatment of every purchase.
- New Jersey's general sales tax is one of several consumption taxes it levies, and the only one modeled on this page. Motor fuel, alcoholic beverages and tobacco are taxed under separate excise schedules, normally price-inclusive and therefore not visible as a line item. Lodging, prepared meals and vehicle transfers are frequently subject to additional dedicated rates at state or local level.
- Exemption treatment in New Jersey is recorded here at category level; the operative detail is where the state's statute terminates each category. Heated and prepared foods generally revert to the full rate despite a grocery exemption, and clothing exemptions are typically bounded by price threshold or by use. These definitional boundaries account for much of the divergence between states that appear equivalent on rate and exemption list alone.
Questions people ask
Does the rate change depending on which town I shop in?
It does not. There is no local layer in New Jersey, so about 6.63% holds statewide and one number is genuinely correct.
Is food taxed the same as everything else?
No — groceries are exempt in New Jersey, which is why a basket of raw ingredients can leave a shop untaxed while a sandwich from the same shop does not. The line is drawn at preparation, not at the food itself.
Is clothing really untaxed here?
Largely, yes — but exemptions of this kind usually have edges. Sports gear, protective equipment and formal wear are commonly written back out of a general clothing exemption, and some states cap it per garment, so an expensive single item can be taxable where a cheap one is not.
Will the rate change if I shop in the next town?
Not by much. Only about 0% of the combined rate is set below state level here, so the figure moves a little across county lines rather than a lot — the state rate is most of what you pay wherever you are.
Why is the combined rate uniform across this state?
New Jersey authorizes no general local sales tax, so the combined rate equals the state rate of about 6.63% in every jurisdiction. This is structural rather than sampled: no loaded county levies an add-on because the statute provides for none.
How are groceries classified for sales tax here?
New Jersey exempts groceries from general sales tax. The exemption typically excludes prepared food, and definitional boundaries — utensils supplied, heating, or a seller's prepared-food share — determine which side a specific item falls on. Those tests vary by state and are not uniform.
What are the limits of this state's clothing exemption?
New Jersey exempts clothing from general sales tax. Such exemptions commonly exclude athletic, protective and formal apparel, and two states cap the exemption per item, so a single high-value garment may be partly taxable. Accessories are generally excluded.
How much intra-state variation is there in the combined rate?
Locally determined levies account for about 0% of the representative combined rate, so intra-state dispersion is limited and the statewide figure approximates most locations closely. Rates remain sourced to the point of sale.