New Jersey homeowners are paying more than ever—and getting no extra relief. The average property tax tab in the Garden State climbed to $10,570 last year, the state’s latest data confirms—another record high, and another gut punch for residents already stretched thin by years of post-pandemic inflation. 

That’s a $475 jump from the year before.

Do the math: that’s nearly a 5% increase, almost double the 2.7% national inflation rate measured by the federal government at the end of last year. Put simply, your property tax bill outran inflation—by a lot.

$36 Billion. That’s What New Jersey Property Owners Paid.

Statewide, local governments collected $36.1 billion in property taxes last year, up from $34.5 billion in 2024. Where did all that money go? More than half—$18.8 billion—went directly to school districts, a jump of over $850 million year over year. Municipal governments collected $10.8 billion, up from $10.3 billion, while county governments took in nearly $6.5 billion, up from $6.2 billion the prior year.

In other words: schools, towns, and counties all needed more money. And homeowners footed the bill.

Why Are Bills Still Going Up?

State and local officials have pointed to a major culprit for years: the rising cost of funding employee health benefits for public workers. That expense doesn’t disappear—it gets baked into local budgets and passed directly to taxpayers.

Last year, then-Gov. Phil Murphy and the Democratic-controlled Legislature also gave dozens of school boards permission to bust through the state’s standard 2% annual cap on property tax levy increases. The reason? To avoid deep cuts to programs and staff at K-12 schools. That cap—a Christie-era reform signed into law by the former Republican governor to rein in runaway tax hikes—has built-in exceptions for debt service, emergency spending, and pension and health benefit costs, which is precisely why bills keep climbing despite the guardrail.

Where You Pay the Most and the Least

Not all New Jersey homeowners are suffering equally. Essex County residents carried the heaviest load again last year, with an average bill of $14,460. Bergen County wasn’t far behind at $13,992, followed by Morris ($12,259).

At the other end of the state, Cumberland County homeowners averaged just $5,114—less than half of what Essex County residents paid.

The Relief Programs? They Didn’t Budge.

Here’s what stings: Murphy’s final budget set aside more than $4 billion for property tax relief programs — including Anchor, Senior Freeze, and the newly launched Stay NJ program for senior homeowners. That sounds like a lot of help.

But the roughly 2 million homeowners and renters who receive payments through the Anchor program—New Jersey’s largest and most popular relief program—got the same check as the year before. Flat. No increase. Even as their actual tax bills climbed nearly $500.

(We’ve been tracking the bigger picture on senior relief—read our earlier piece: NJ Property Taxes Could Top $10,000 in 2026 as Stay NJ Relief Program Launches.)

What’s Next Under Gov. Sherrill?

Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the Democrat who took office last month, made affordability and tax relief central themes of her winning campaign. She’s expected to present her first state budget to lawmakers early next month, and property tax relief will be front and center in the debate.

New Jersey homeowners will be watching, and waiting, to see if the new administration can finally move the needle on a problem that has been setting records year after year.

The state does allow homeowners to deduct up to $15,000 in property taxes on their New Jersey income tax returns. And there’s a recent federal change worth noting: the cap on the federal SALT deduction, which includes property taxes, was recently raised from $10,000 to $40,000, giving some relief to higher-income filers. But for the average New Jersey homeowner watching their bill tick past $10,000 for the second straight year, it may feel like too little, too late.