Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 3.0Even on the area’s higher pay, Berkeley Township costs more to live in than 74% of U.S. towns
It ranks #60 of 468 in New Jersey for affordability. Home prices around Berkeley Township have risen about 79% over the past 5 years. Builders were permitted 144 new homes in 2025.
Census 2020–24 home values, rents, tax bills and cost burden, measured against the median household income of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area ($99K). How TownRatings grades cost of living
The grade measures what housing costs against what households in the area earn. Berkeley Township’s area earns well above the typical U.S. town ($99K against $74K), but homes, rent and taxes here run higher still. Owners keep up better than renters: 32% of owners pay 30% or more of income for housing (typical U.S. town: 20%), against 59% of renters.
In dollars
- $2,180a month for a two-bedroom, utilities includedHUD Fair Market Rent, 2026
- 113prices across the New York metro, where the U.S. is 100 (housing 149)BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
In paychecks the grade
- 3.1 yrsof area income buys the typical home; the typical U.S. town: 3.3$99K, New York-area income
- 20%of area income goes to the median rent; the typical U.S. town: 18%Census 2020–24
- 59%of renters pay 30%+ of income for housing; across New Jersey: 52%Census 2020–24
- 32%of owners do; the typical U.S. town: 20%Census 2020–24
What Berkeley Township’s housing numbers say
Nearly every household owns
89% of Berkeley Township households own their home, against 64% across New Jersey. There are 2,141 renter households. Property taxes ↓
Prices rose faster than New Jersey’s over five years
There’s no Zillow index for Berkeley Township, so the page uses the federal house price index for the ZIP codes around it, which follows repeat sales of the same homes. It rose 79% over five years, against 63% across New Jersey. Price trend ↓
New building is almost all single-family houses
Of the 1,116 homes permitted in Berkeley Township’s past 10 years, 98% were single-family houses. New homes ↓
Written from the data on this page. There’s no Zillow index for Berkeley Township, so the typical value is an estimate: the Census median carried forward with the federal house price index; permits are Census figures through 2025; incomes, rents paid, taxes and ownership come from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Berkeley Township’s grade
Measured against what households in the area earn, Berkeley Township is more affordable than 26% of U.S. towns, #60 of 468 in New Jersey. The share of households paying 30%+ for housing pulls the grade down most; home prices hold it up.
Home prices up 79% in 5 years
The federal house price index for the ZIP codes around Berkeley Township rose 79% over the past 5 years, faster than across New Jersey (63%). Last year prices rose 8.8%. Carrying the Census median home value forward with that index puts the typical Berkeley Township home at roughly $394,000 today.
Carrying the Census median forward with the index puts a typical home at about $394K.
Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (annual) for the ZIP codes around Berkeley Township, weighted by land area. It tracks repeat sales of the same homes, so it shows how prices changed, not what homes cost.
A year’s rent takes 20% of area income
The calculator starts from the area income the grade uses. Switch to Berkeley Township’s own median, or type yours.
That’s $30K short of a typical Berkeley Township home.
A two-bedroom rents for about $2,180 a month here, $320 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, Berkeley Township’s typical property tax (1.33% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $2,180
Renters already here pay a median of $1,683, so moving in tends to cost more than staying put.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Monmouth-Ocean, NJ HUD Metro FMR Area): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
144 new homes permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 144 new homes in Berkeley Township in 2025, all single-family houses, worth about $35.2 million to build. That's 3.2 per 1,000 residents, about the pace of New Jersey as a whole. Over the past 10 years, Berkeley Township has permitted 1,116 homes in all.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Berkeley Township gained 2,499 residents while 886 new homes were permitted: about 2.8 new residents per new home, more than across New Jersey (2.0): growth outpaced building.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 45 | 45 | 0 | $14.5 million |
| 2025 | 144 | 144 | 0 | $35.2 million |
| 2024 | 144 | 144 | 0 | $27.7 million |
| 2023 | 131 | 131 | 0 | $30.2 million |
| 2022 | 97 | 97 | 0 | $18.2 million |
| 2021 | 120 | 120 | 0 | $19.7 million |
| 2020 | 96 | 96 | 0 | $17.7 million |
| 2019 | 98 | 98 | 0 | $15.3 million |
| 2018 | 122 | 112 | 10 | $21 million |
| 2017 | 92 | 92 | 0 | $17.2 million |
| 2016 | 72 | 56 | 16 | $8.1 million |
| 2015 | 107 | 82 | 25 | $15.3 million |
| 2014 | 116 | 116 | 0 | $19.6 million |
| 2013 | 81 | 71 | 10 | $16.6 million |
| 2012 | 71 | 71 | 0 | $10.6 million |
| 2011 | 56 | 56 | 0 | $7.8 million |
| 2010 | 71 | 71 | 0 | $7.2 million |
| 2009 | 41 | 41 | 0 | $5.6 million |
| 2008 | 57 | 57 | 0 | $12.2 million |
| 2007 | 78 | 78 | 0 | $11 million |
| 2006 | 102 | 99 | 3 | $14.9 million |
| 2005 | 111 | 108 | 3 | $12.3 million |
| 2004 | 128 | 128 | 0 | $15.1 million |
| 2003 | 188 | 188 | 0 | $16.2 million |
| 2002 | 124 | 124 | 0 | $10.7 million |
| 2001 | 254 | 251 | 3 | $17.6 million |
| 2000 | 633 | 557 | 76 | $51.5 million |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
Property tax runs below the New Jersey norm
The median bill is $4,114 (New Jersey: $9,590), 1.33% of a home’s value a year, against 2.11% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
The rest of a budget near Berkeley Township
Only figures published free for the whole country, each labeled with the area it covers: the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area, or New Jersey. Groceries follow the goods price level; nobody publishes them town by town.
| Cost | Here | Compared with | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prices overall U.S. = 100 | 113 | NJ 109 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Goods (groceries, clothing, cars…) U.S. = 100 | 110 | NJ 107 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Utilities U.S. = 100 | 127 | NJ 114 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Other services U.S. = 100 | 106 | NJ 104 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
Price levels: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities 2024 (metro area and state). Electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A.
Berkeley Township vs. its neighbors
Zillow publishes no value for Berkeley Township. Ocean Township and Lacey Township and Holiday City South have no Zillow value, so they are in the table only.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, latest | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Township | C | — | $310K | 1.33% | $2,180 |
| Lacey Township | D | — | $409K | 1.63% | $2,750 |
| Ocean Township | C− | — | $475K | 1.39% | $2,120 |
| Pine Beach | C | $585K | $458K | 1.71% | $2,320 |
| Toms River Township | D | $463K | $417K | 1.56% | $2,230 |
| Beachwood | D | $472K | $353K | 1.68% | $2,740 |
| Holiday City South | – | — | $267K | 1.31% | $2,280 |
| Seaside Park | D | $886K | $860K | 1.16%+ | $1,960 |
“—” under Zillow: Zillow publishes no value for that town, so it’s left blank rather than mixed with Census figures. “—” under Cost: not graded (too little Census data, or under 1,000 residents). “+”: the Census reports the tax bill only as $10,000 or more, so the rate is at least that.
Questions about the cost of living in Berkeley Township
Is Berkeley Township expensive to live in?
Measured against what households in the area earn, Berkeley Township costs more than 74% of U.S. towns: a C for cost of living, #60 of 468 in New Jersey. The typical home costs 3.1 years of the median household income of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area ($99K).
How much is rent in Berkeley Township?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $2,180 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $1,683 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Berkeley Township?
The median bill is $4,114 a year, 1.33% of the median home value (New Jersey: $9,590, 2.11%), from the Census 2020–24.
Neighbors talk housing
What Berkeley Township buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Price trend: Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.