New Jersey has a graduated state individual income tax, with rates ranging from 1.40 percent to 10.75 percent. New Jersey has a graduated corporate income tax with a top rate of 11.50 percent—the highest in the nation—a 6.625 percent state sales tax rate, and an average combined state and local sales tax rate of 6.60 percent. New Jersey has a 1.88 percent effective property tax rate on owner-occupied housing value—also the highest in the nation. New Jersey has an inheritance tax. New Jersey’s gas tax is 49.15 cents per gallon, and its cigarette excise tax is $3.00 per pack of 20 cigarettes.
New Jersey raises tax revenue primarily through property taxes (39.1 percent of total state and local tax revenue), individual income taxes (21.6 percent), and general sales taxes (17.2 percent). New Jersey collects $9,178 in state and local tax collections per capita, carries $9,375 in state and local debt per capita, and has a 60 percent funded ratio of public pension plans. New Jersey’s tax system ranks 49th overall on the 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index.
Each state’s tax code is a multifaceted system with many moving parts, and New Jersey is no exception. Use the tabs below to compare New Jersey taxes with other states and to see how New Jersey raises tax revenue. You can also browse our tax maps, which are compiled from our annual publication, Facts & Figures 2026: How Does Your State Compare?
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The State Tax Competitiveness Index enables policymakers, taxpayers, and business leaders to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare. While there are many ways to show how much state governments collect in taxes, the Index evaluates how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.
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Facts & Figures serves as a one-stop state tax data resource that compares all 50 states on over 40 measures of tax rates, collections, burdens, and more.
2 min read
Individual income taxes are a major source of state government revenue, accounting for more than a third of state tax collections. How do income taxes compare in your state?
9 min read
Retail sales taxes are an essential part of most states’ revenue toolkits, responsible for nearly a quarter of combined state and local tax collections.
18 min read
Forty-four states levy a corporate income tax, with top rates ranging from a 2 percent flat rate in North Carolina to an 11.5 percent top marginal rate in New Jersey. Four states—Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania—reduced their corporate income tax rates effective January 1, 2026.
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Property taxes are the primary tool for financing local governments. While no taxpayers in high-tax jurisdictions will be celebrating their yearly payments, property taxes are largely rooted in the benefit principle of taxation: the people paying the property tax bills are most often the ones benefiting from the services.
9 min read
A growing number of cities, in red states like Arkansas and Texas, blue states like California and New Jersey, and purple states like Georgia and Nevada, have pursued streaming taxes in recent years.
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Individual income taxes are a major source of state government revenue, accounting for more than a third of state tax collections:
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If your state issued tax rebates last year, you might have to pay federal income tax on the rebate you received. Maybe. Who knows? Unfortunately, not the IRS—at least not yet.
5 min read
While many factors influence business location and investment decisions, sales taxes are something within policymakers’ control that can have immediate impacts.
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At the end of 2022, prices were 14.6 percent higher than they were two years prior. That’s the fastest inflation rate over any two calendar years since the stagflation era of the late 1970s. State policymakers are understandably interested in bringing any tools at their disposal to bear on the problem. And many of them are reaching for tax policy solutions.
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New Jersey levies the highest top statutory corporate tax rate at 11.5 percent, followed by Minnesota (9.8 percent) and Illinois (9.50 percent). Alaska and Pennsylvania levy top statutory corporate tax rates of 9.40 percent and 8.99 percent, respectively.
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The pandemic has accelerated changes to the way we live and work, making it far easier for people to move—and they have. As states work to maintain their competitive advantage, they should pay attention to where people are moving, and try to understand why.
5 min read
Most of the 2023 state tax changes represent net tax reductions, the result of an unprecedented wave of rate reductions and other tax cuts in the past two years as states respond to burgeoning revenues, greater tax competition in an era of enhanced mobility, and the impact of high inflation on residents.
20 min read
While the wireless market has become increasingly competitive in recent years, resulting in steady declines in the average price for wireless services, the price reduction for consumers has been partially offset by higher taxes.
41 min read
The logic that has prevailed for local sales taxes should apply equally to other taxes that localities impose on multijurisdictional businesses, including local tourism taxes. The evidence is clear that central administration of local taxes reduces compliance costs without sacrificing local revenue.
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