New Jersey · County property tax · ACS 2024
Salem County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Salem County pays $7,018 a year, an effective rate of 2.93%, far above the U.S. average.
- $7,018
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 2.93%
- Effective rate · Highest-decile rate
- +252%
- vs U.S. average
- #1 of 21
- rank in NJ
The verdict
Homeowners in Salem County pay a median $7,018 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 2.93%, more affordable than 0% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $7,018
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 2.93%
- Effective rate on median home
- #3134 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +252%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($239,500). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for New Jersey. Population: 65,275. Owner-occupied homes: 17,635.
The median annual property tax in Salem County is $7,018, which is 27% lower than the New Jersey state average and 252% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 2.93% on a median home value of $239,500. Property taxes represent 8.8% of the median household income in this county.
Why Salem County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Salem County pay a median annual property tax of $7,018, far above the national median and well below the New Jersey state median. On a $239,500 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 2.93% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Salem County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 8.8% of the $79,960 median household income.
Decision signal 3
The effective rate is a national headwind
Salem County's 2.93% effective rate is among the highest of 3,135 tracked counties: only about 100% pay more.
Decision signal 4
Low among New Jersey counties by effective rate
Salem County ranks #1 of 21 counties in New Jersey by effective rate (95% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Salem County as reported to the Census Bureau; your parcel can differ. Not tax, legal, or financial advice: check the county assessor or a qualified professional before decisions that depend on these numbers.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 7.7% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 69% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 29.0%, the median bill rose 19.1% to $7,018: the rate did comparatively little to offset the market.
Effective rate is the published median bill divided by the published median home value, so the two multiply back to the bill exactly; the rate's movement here is derived from those two figures rather than read from the rounded published rate. Both are ACS 5-year survey estimates for the median owner-occupied household, compared across non-overlapping releases. They describe what the Census published, not a local policy, assessment, or exemption change.
How to read this county's bill
Bills rose across 2020-2024, from $5,895 to $7,018, a gain of 19%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 15,138 of 17,635 owner-occupied homes (85.8%) report annual real-estate taxes above $3,000. That band has no upper edge in the source, so the county median understates the burden carried by the plurality rather than describing it.
Both figures are in the national top quarter, and the median bill still equals only 8.8% of median household income. A high rate on high earnings produces a large dollar figure, and only the dollar figure tends to get quoted; the ratio above is the other half.
The share above is the median annual bill divided by median household income, a ratio of two county-level medians rather than a household-by-household figure.
Salem County is an outlier inside New Jersey
Across the 21 New Jersey counties with a published rate, the average effective rate is 2.08%. Salem County is at 2.93%, which sits 2.1 standard deviations above that average. Fewer than one county in twenty nationally is this far from its own state's centre, so a state-level average is a poor guide to what is owed here.
Standard deviations are computed across every county in the state with a published effective rate for 2024; states with fewer than five such counties are not assessed.
What Salem County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Salem County homeowners, 15,138 of 17,635 owner-occupied homes (85.8%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 1.5% (257)
- $800 to $1,499 1.3% (234)
- $1,500 to $1,999 1.8% (325)
- $2,000 to $2,999 3.5% (619)
- $3,000 or more 85.8% (15,138)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
1,062 homes here (6.0%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how New Jersey handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Salem County pay about the same bill, a 3% gap.
Salem County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Salem County's SPIKE ACS 2024 figure.
Salem County's median bill is 27% below the New Jersey median and 252% above the U.S. median.
A high rate, a smaller bill
Salem County taxes property at 2.93%, about 39% above the New Jersey average, yet its median bill of $7,018 lands roughly 27% below it. The effective rate is the bill divided by the home's value, so a county can only sit on opposite sides of the state average this way when its homes are worth materially less than the state norm. The rate is the policy; the bill is what the housing market does with it.
Salem County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Salem County | New Jersey Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Highest-decile rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 8.8% | - | - |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Tax-burden differences across rows reflect millage decisions, assessment-ratio practices, and the residential-vs-commercial mix of each tax base.
Is Salem County's $7,018 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Salem County's $7,018 ACS median (SPIKE), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $702/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for New Jersey.
Salem County bill trail · SPIKE
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $7,018 +3.9% | 2.93% |
| 2023 | $6,757 +1.8% | 3.03% |
| 2022 | $6,638 +6.2% | 3.19% |
| 2021 | $6,252 +6.1% | 3.34% |
| 2020 | $5,895 | 3.17% |
Each row is a separate ACS 5-year release, and consecutive releases share four of their five survey years. The percentage beside each bill is therefore movement in the published estimate against the previous release, not a single year's tax change. The two releases largely describe the same households. For change over time, compare releases that do not overlap.
Salem County: tax takes 8.8% of income
Counties near Salem County's median bill
On effective rate, Salem County sits nearest Allegany County (NY), Orleans County (NY), Cattaraugus County (NY).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Sangamon County (IL), Norfolk County (MA), Clay County (NE).
How peers are chosen
These are the nearest cross-state matches in the published Census data, not neighboring counties or recommendations. Peers are rebuilt with each data release; see the calculation method.
Similar effective rates
Similar published median-tax changes, 2020–2024
Salem County: only 7% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 2,170 of 31,790 returns from Salem County reported real estate taxes, averaging $8,555 - 32% of those reporters sat in the $100-200k AGI band.
What this IRS county file does not say
Amounts are reported before the SALT cap, not deducted; the share is of filers, not homeowners. Source: IRS SOI county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in New Jersey
Salem County bill FAQs
- How does Salem County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Salem County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 2.93% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Salem County?
- Property taxes in Salem County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 8.8% of the $79,960 median household income.
- What is the average property tax in Salem County, New Jersey?
- The median annual property tax in Salem County is $7,018, an effective rate of 2.93% on a $239,500 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Salem County?
- Salem County, New Jersey scores F (15/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is mortgage premium at B- (+$187). The score compares published county medians to U.S. percentiles, it is not a personal bill and not advice to buy, sell, appeal, or relocate.
- Are property taxes increasing in Salem County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Salem County climbed 19.1% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $5,895 to $7,018, a 4-year span. These are survey estimates covering five years each, so this compares the two releases furthest apart rather than consecutive ones, which overlap and would mostly measure the same households twice.
What to do with Salem County's SPIKE bill
Salem County's $7,018 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Income burden is elevated here: about 8.8% of Salem County's $79,960 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Salem County's SPIKE median, then a disjoint out-of-state rate set, not the same-state geography lattice.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 2.93%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $7,018/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Salem County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Salem County (PEAK · SPIKE), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
PEAK SPIKE
Alexandria city, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $7,024/yr (near-tied bill ABS $6); rate 0.96% vs Salem County 2.93%.
Hillsborough County, NH
ABS(median_tax) peer · $6,999/yr (near-tied bill ABS $19); rate 1.66% vs Salem County 2.93%.
Howard County, MD
ABS(median_tax) peer · $6,987/yr (near-tied bill ABS $31); rate 1.17% vs Salem County 2.93%.
Denton County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $7,055/yr (near-tied bill ABS $37); rate 1.61% vs Salem County 2.93%.
New Jersey county set
State ACS overview for every published New Jersey county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Salem County stamps PEAK · SPIKE - review notice deadlines before quoting the ACS median.
Data vintage and method
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
Property tax data reflects median amounts paid by homeowners. Effective rates are calculated as median tax divided by median home value.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, county median real-estate taxes · 2024 Salem County (PEAK · SPIKE) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.