New Jersey vs Pennsylvania

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in New Jersey is worth

$91,912

at national prices · RPP 108.8BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in Pennsylvania is worth

$102,459

at national prices · RPP 97.6BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes +$10,547 further in Pennsylvania (+11.5% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

New Jersey: $100,000 ÷ (108.8 ÷ 100) = $91,912

Pennsylvania: $100,000 ÷ (97.6 ÷ 100) = $102,459

difference: $102,459 − $91,912 = +$10,547

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	New Jersey	Pennsylvania	Difference
All items	108.8	97.6	−10.3%
Housing rents	134.3	85.1	−36.6%
Goods	107.1	99.4	−7.2%
Utilities	114.2	109.3	−4.3%
Other services	103.5	99.8	−3.6%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

New JerseyMedian rent$1,720/moMedian home$454,400

PennsylvaniaMedian rent$1,209/moMedian home$254,500

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	New Jersey	Pennsylvania
Income tax (top rate)	10.75%	3.07%
Sales tax (combined avg)	6.60%	6.34%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

New Jersey vs Pennsylvania: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from New Jersey to Pennsylvania and its purchasing power changes from $91,912 to $102,459 in national-average terms — a gain of $10,547. Pennsylvania is the cheaper of the two, running at 97.6 on the price index versus 108.8.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is housing rents: New Jersey sits at 134.3 and Pennsylvania at 85.1 (100 = national). Pennsylvania has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $1,720 in New Jersey against $1,209 in Pennsylvania, and the typical home $454,400 versus $254,500. Pennsylvania is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, New Jersey has 10.75% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 6.60%; Pennsylvania has 3.07% top income tax and 6.34%. Weigh both against the purchasing-power figure above.

Full profiles: New Jersey ·Pennsylvania. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

Comparing a different pair?Use the full tool →