New Jersey Distress Index: county report
New Jersey has 6 counties in the LeadCounty data. 1.6% of their 1,291,224 properties have unpaid property tax, compared with 3.0% across all counties we cover. The New Jersey Distress Index is 40 out of 100, rank 14 of 19. Essex County is highest at 3.8%. From official county records, refreshed weekly.
Summary in plain English
- 1.6% of properties in these New Jersey counties have unpaid tax; the highest share is in Essex County (Newark), NJ (3.8%).
- 21.9% of properties belong to absentee owners and 18.8% have been held 15 years or more.
- New Jersey collects unpaid tax by this system: tax sale certificates Redemption: A private certificate holder can sue to foreclose the right of redemption 2 years after the sale (6 months for a town-held certificate); 2024 changes protect the owner's surplus equity.
New Jersey counties
| Rank | County | Index | Tax delinquent | Foreclosure | Code cases | Inherited (12 mo) | Absentee | Owned 15+ yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Monmouth County, NJ | 70 | 3.1% | 0.4% | n/a | n/a | 19.4% | 20.2% |
| 36 | Union County (Elizabeth), NJ | 52 | 1.4% | 0.3% | n/a | n/a | 22.0% | 16.0% |
| 45 | Essex County (Newark), NJ | 46 | 3.8% | 0.1% | n/a | n/a | 30.0% | 30.7% |
| 53 | Hudson County (Jersey City), NJ | 37 | 0.4% | 0.4% | n/a | 0.1% | 31.9% | 7.7% |
| 60 | Middlesex County (New Brunswick), NJ | 26 | 0.9% | 0.1% | n/a | n/a | 18.2% | 8.3% |
| 67 | Bergen County, NJ | 15 | 0.2% | <0.1% | n/a | 0.1% | 16.5% | 26.5% |
Download these numbers as a free CSV Counts and shares only, no owner information. Free to use with a link to this page.
How the Distress Index is built
For each county we take four distress measures from its official records: the share of properties that are tax delinquent, in foreclosure, have an open code case, or received an inheritance deed in the last 12 months. Each measure is turned into a percentile among the counties that publish it (0 is the lowest share, 100 the highest). The index is the average of the percentiles a county has.
- A county is scored only if the tax-delinquent measure and at least one more are available. A record a county's offices do not publish is left out, never counted as zero.
- Shares use all properties in the county file as the base. Absentee owners, long-held properties and sales are shown for context and are not part of the index.
- Sales are shown only where a county publishes sale dates and prices. Counties that do not (for example Texas) show n/a.
- A state's index is the average of its scored counties, weighted by number of properties.
- The index compares the counties LeadCounty covers. It is not a national ranking and not investment advice.
Edition 1. Counts come from official county records and are refreshed weekly. Full method: methodology, editorial standards, data sources.
More New Jersey resources
Questions
How distressed is property in New Jersey?
In the 6 New Jersey counties LeadCounty covers, 1.6% of properties have unpaid property tax, against 3.0% across all counties we cover. The New Jersey Distress Index is 40 out of 100, rank 14 of 19 scored states.
Where do the New Jersey numbers come from?
From the county offices named on our data sources page: the auditor or assessor for properties and owners, the treasurer or tax collector for unpaid tax, the recorder for deeds and the city or county for code cases. Counts are refreshed weekly.
Does this cover all of New Jersey?
No. It covers only the 6 New Jersey counties in the table. A statewide figure would need every county.
How we make these guides
Written by the LeadCounty editorial and data team from official county, court and state sources and our own weekly counts. We name the office behind every number, say what we cannot see, and fix mistakes when you tell us. See our editorial standards and methodology. General information, not legal or financial advice. Refreshed weekly.
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