These NJ towns spend the most of their tax bills on schools

🔴 Data shows where your tax dollars go

🔴 See the Top 30 NJ towns spending money on schools

👇 Check below for how much your town spends 👇

In 2023, New Jersey's 21 counties collected over $33.3 billion in taxes. But where do those tax dollars go?

Nearly $17.5 billion, or around 52.4%, went to local schools, according to a New Jersey 101.5 analysis of data from the state Department of Community Affairs.

How much each county, town, or city puts toward its schools varies greatly.

For residents of Freehold Township, around 69 cents of every dollar paid in property taxes goes toward local education. That comes out to $107.6 million for the district's 3,447 students.

The Monmouth County township barely makes the cut of the top 30 municipalities in New Jersey in this regard.

On the opposite end, the state's largest city puts 31 cents of every dollar collected in taxes into its local schools for total spending of nearly $147 million. The district serves over 41,000 students.

Newark places 513th out of 566 municipalities. Over 80% of funding for Newark schools comes from state aid.

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Half of the towns in the top 10 on that list are in Burlington County.

But Hunterdon County has more towns — eight — in the top 30.

Hunterdon County stands atop its peers; over 67% of the $592 million it collected in taxes last year went to local schools.

Meantime, Cape May County collected more in taxes than Hunterdon — over $621 million total — and put just 29.5% of that toward education.

See below how much of your tax bill goes to local schools.

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