Moving to New Jersey from Arizona
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Arizona to New Jersey — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Arizona to New Jersey, you would find that New Jersey is 20.1% more expensive than Arizona. A $75,000 salary in Arizona would need to be roughly $90,100 in New Jersey to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Newark averages 67°F vs 87°F in Phoenix, making it significantly cooler. Phoenix and Newark are about 2,150 mi apart.
Thinking of moving to New Jersey? Get a shortlist of towns in New Jersey that match your priorities: size, cost, taxes, safety, disaster risk, hospitals and transport. Find my towns →Is New Jersey cheaper than Arizona?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 3.7% less
Groceries
pay 23.7% more
Transportation
pay 18.0% more
Housing
pay 24.6% more
Childcare
pay 54.1% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 22.1% more
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in New Jersey?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $90,100
To maintain the same standard of living in New Jersey
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in New Jersey cost about 21% more than cities in Arizona.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Arizona and New Jersey stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
New Jersey performs significantly better than Arizona across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
New Jersey performs significantly better than Arizona across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Arizona performs better than New Jersey across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Arizona generally does better on infrastructure, though New Jersey leads in internet access.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
New Jersey generally does better on employment & economy, though Arizona leads in unemployment rate.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
New Jersey performs significantly better than Arizona across all family life metrics.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in New Jersey vs Arizona
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Phoenix | Newark |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 73°/49°F (23°/10°C) | 48°/27°F (9°/-2°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 95°/69°F (35°/20°C) | 76°/51°F (24°/11°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 103°/80°F (40°/27°C) | 85°/63°F (29°/17°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 77°/54°F (25°/12°C) | 58°/36°F (14°/2°C) |
View all months
| Month | Phoenix | Newark |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 69°/46°F (20.3°/7.6°C) | 42°/24°F (5.6°/-4.4°C) |
| Feb | 72°/49°F (22.1°/9.3°C) | 46°/26°F (7.7°/-3.2°C) |
| Mar | 78°/53°F (25.7°/11.9°C) | 55°/32°F (12.7°/0.2°C) |
| Apr | 86°/60°F (29.9°/15.7°C) | 67°/42°F (19.4°/5.3°C) |
| May | 95°/69°F (34.8°/20.6°C) | 76°/51°F (24.6°/10.7°C) |
| Jun | 104°/77°F (39.9°/25.1°C) | 85°/61°F (29.5°/16.3°C) |
| Jul | 106°/83°F (41.0°/28.1°C) | 88°/66°F (31.2°/18.8°C) |
| Aug | 104°/82°F (40.1°/27.8°C) | 87°/65°F (30.4°/18.1°C) |
| Sep | 100°/75°F (37.8°/24.1°C) | 80°/57°F (26.5°/14.0°C) |
| Oct | 89°/64°F (31.8°/18.0°C) | 69°/45°F (20.4°/7.3°C) |
| Nov | 76°/52°F (24.7°/11.1°C) | 58°/36°F (14.2°/2.4°C) |
| Dec | 67°/45°F (19.6°/7.1°C) | 46°/28°F (7.8°/-2.2°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in New Jersey than Arizona?
Day-to-day costs in New Jersey run about 20% higher than Arizona on average; specific cities can swing further.
How much money do I need to move to New Jersey?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $22,525 in New Jersey for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is New Jersey safe?
New Jersey performs significantly better than Arizona across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in New Jersey compared to Arizona?
New Jersey performs significantly better than Arizona across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in New Jersey compared to Arizona?
The average high temperature in Newark is 67°F, compared to 87°F in Phoenix. Newark receives around 46.2 in of rainfall per year, while Phoenix gets 8.2 in.
