The 10 lowest property tax towns in NJ (Opinion)

Recently I shared with you the property taxes of people breathing rare air, the 10 highest property tax towns in the Garden State. Most of us will never be able to afford to live in these hamlets.

The New Jersey average property tax bill stands at an unacceptably high $9,284. It remains the highest in the nation. As the highest list shows, there’s a big disparity among New Jersey towns, with those highest paying more than double the average. So what about the lowest?

Lower property taxes do exist in New Jersey, but at what price? Even the lowest property taxes here where you might be dealing with less safe neighbors and fewer services (but not always) are still mostly higher than nicer places in other states.

Example: Here’s a 3-bedroom home in Waxhaw, North Carolina.

I picked this town because my brother used to live there and I’m familiar with it as a beautiful, friendly place. The home is absolutely gorgeous. Zillow estimates the value at half a million dollars and the most recent listed property tax? Only $2,206.

Compare that to these towns in New Jersey with 10 lowest average property taxes.

10 — Salem

A small city in Salem County that has lost population over the years and where more than a quarter of the people are living below the poverty line has the 10th lowest average property tax in the state, and it is $3,331.

9 — Downe

Never heard of it? Probably because the population is under 1,600 for this Cumberland County town. Average property tax is $3,323.

8 — Dennis

People here pay an average of $3,253 per year in this Cape May County town that was voted in 2008 as 20th best place to live by New Jersey Monthly. Nice!

7 — Washington Township, Burlington County

This town’s 2021 property tax average was $3,062, putting it at lowest in Burlington County and 7th lowest in the state. I still can’t get over how many other towns in New Jersey share the name though. It’s like how George Foreman named his kids.

6 — Commercial Township

This is a small town in Cumberland County. $2,754 is their average property tax bill. But their per capita income is only $14,663. And their school district is in the lowest-ranked socio-economic group by the state.

5 — Audubon Park

This Camden County small town has an average property tax of $2,695.

4 — Teterboro

If you don’t live near Bergen County, you probably only think of the airport. People live here, but fewer than 100. The town is only a little over one square mile with most of the town’s land taken up by Teterboro Airport. The result? An average property tax of $2,214.

3 — Lower Alloways Creek

There was a groundbreaking here last year for the site of the NJ Wind Port. It’s also where the Salem Nuclear Power Plant is. The result? $2,152 average property tax last year.

2 — Woodbine Borough

The lowest property tax in all of Cape May County and second-lowest in all of New Jersey is here, and it’s $2,059. But the median household income here is only $30,298 and close to 20% of the population lives below the poverty line.

1 — Camden

The lowest average property tax in the state belongs to Camden and stands at $1,917. Sure there were 23 homicides in the city of 71,000, but crime has taken a 48% dive since 2013.

Just as Tavistock was in a category all its own on the highest property tax list, so is Walpack on this lowest. There are only nine residents and the town in a way ceased to exist after a federal dam project in the 1950s but if you counted it the average property tax is $515.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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