New Jersey may be one of the more expensive places to call home, but a new national ranking suggests residents get a lot in return. WalletHub has ranked the Garden State as the No. 2 best state to live in America in 2026, highlighting its strong household incomes, relatively low debt levels and favorable social and economic indicators.
New Jersey has climbed another spot in WalletHub’s annual ranking of the best states to live in America.
The Garden State now ranks No. 2 among all 50 states, finishing behind only Idaho. Last year, New Jersey ranked third.
The result may surprise anyone familiar with New Jersey’s high housing costs, property taxes and other everyday expenses. But WalletHub’s study looks beyond the price of living in a state, comparing a much broader range of factors that can influence residents’ overall quality of life.
And that is where New Jersey performs particularly well.
High Costs, but Strong Fundamentals
One of New Jersey’s biggest advantages is household income.
According to WalletHub, the state has the third-highest median household income in the country, at nearly $104,000.
Residents also carry relatively low levels of debt compared with their earnings. WalletHub found that New Jersey has the second-lowest median debt, equivalent to roughly 27% of annual income.
The state also performed strongly on measures connected to economic hardship.
New Jersey has the fifth-lowest share of residents living below the poverty line and the fifth-lowest food insecurity rate in the country, according to the study.
Those numbers help explain an apparent contradiction that many New Jersey residents know well: living here can be expensive, but the state also offers economic opportunities and other advantages that continue to push it toward the top of national quality-of-life rankings.
From No. 3 to No. 2
The latest ranking also represents an improvement from 2025, when WalletHub placed New Jersey third in the nation.
Moving into the No. 2 position reinforces a pattern that has seen the Garden State consistently perform well in national comparisons of places to live.
Of course, rankings cannot capture every resident’s experience. The cost of housing, taxes and everyday expenses remains a significant concern for many New Jersey families.
But WalletHub’s latest study suggests that affordability is only one part of the equation.
For all the complaints New Jersey residents may have about the cost of living, the Garden State continues to score highly where it counts — and this year, only one state ranked higher.
Sources
WalletHub — Best States to Live In (2026)
ROI-NJ — N.J. rated the second-best state to live in WalletHub study, August 11, 2026