New Jersey and Pennsylvania at a glance
New Jersey and Pennsylvania share a border, but a paycheck does not travel across it unchanged. A $60,000 salary leaves $18,395 a year after taxes and the four basics in New Jersey and $25,997 in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania comes out ahead by $7,602 a year ($633 a month). The calculation starts from the same gross pay in both states, subtracts federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, then each state's own income tax, and then the population-weighted cost of a one-bedroom rental, groceries, home energy and gasoline across 9,343,809 people in 21 counties in New Jersey and 13,018,639 people in 67 counties in Pennsylvania.
Taxes: what each paycheck loses
Federal income tax ($5,072) and FICA ($4,590) on $60,000 are the same on both sides of the border. State income tax takes $1,767 in New Jersey and $1,842 in Pennsylvania, which leaves take-home pay of $48,571 and $48,497.
At $100,000
At $100,000 take-home pay is $74,721 in New Jersey and $75,831 in Pennsylvania, a difference of $1,110. The gap widens with income because graduated state brackets take a growing share.
Living costs
One-bedroom rent averages $1,891 a month in New Jersey and $1,257 in Pennsylvania, so Pennsylvania is $635 a month cheaper for housing. Food costs $3,436 a year in both, because the USDA Thrifty Food Plan is a national figure; home energy $2,562 and $2,412, and gasoline $1,484 and $1,573. Together the basics cost $30,176 a year in New Jersey and $22,500 in Pennsylvania.
What the Census adds
Median household income is $103,556 in New Jersey and $77,971 in Pennsylvania. Homeowners pay a median of $9,590 a year in property tax in New Jersey and $3,311 in Pennsylvania. Commuters travel 30.5 minutes each way on average in New Jersey and 26.3 in Pennsylvania.
Method
Taxes use the 2025 rules for a single filer with wage income only and the standard deduction. Housing and living costs are county figures from HUD (one-bedroom Fair Market Rent), the USDA Thrifty Food Plan and state energy prices from the Energy Information Administration, averaged across each state's counties and weighted by population, so large counties count more. Local income taxes are not included. Counties differ widely inside every state, so use the county pages for a specific place.