We’re Number 4
Well folks, here we go again… Once again New Jersey is in the top 10. The Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey found that New Jersey is number four in the top ten least affordable states for renters behind Hawaii, California, and Massachusetts. Finishing out the top ten are New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Alaska.
Of the 21 counties in New Jersey eight require renters to have an income of $50, ooo plus in order to have the rent require less than 30 percent of a family’s income for a 2 bedroom home. Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset, Bergen, Passaic, Monmouth, Ocean, and Hudson counties are the top eight with Mercer, Essex, and Morris county finishing out the top ten counties.
The report estimates that 54 percent of Mercer County renters, 22,400, are unable to afford a two-bedroom apartment. According to the Star-Ledger’s Tom Hester rental costs have jumped 43 percent in New Jersey since 2000.