Dusenberry House · Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Even on the area’s higher pay, Chatham costs more to live in than 94% of U.S. towns
It ranks #343 of 468 in New Jersey for affordability. Up 11.1% in a year, more than twice the New Jersey typical home.
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. Chatham’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: 25% of owners pay 30% or more of income for housing (typical U.S. town: 20%), against 41% of renters.
In dollars
- $1.4Mtypical home, 138% above the New Jersey typical homeZillow, September 2026
- $3,190a 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
- 9.9 yrsof area income buys the typical home; the typical U.S. town: 3.3$99K, New York-area income
- 27%of area income goes to the median rent; the typical U.S. town: 18%Census 2020–24
- 41%of renters pay 30%+ of income for housing; across New Jersey: 52%Census 2020–24
- 25%of owners do; the typical U.S. town: 20%Census 2020–24
The short version on homes in Chatham
Nearly all homes sell above asking
In May, 100% of the homes that sold went for more than the asking price and 50% went under contract within two weeks. There were about 0.9 months of homes for sale at that pace, against 3.3 across New Jersey: 8 listings for 9 sales that month. Expect competition on well-priced homes. How fast homes sell ↓
A burst of building in 2022
Chatham permitted 347 new homes in 2022, 97% of them in buildings with two or more homes, against about 39 in a typical year of the past decade. 2025 came in at 5. New homes ↓
Renting costs far less than owning
A two-bedroom rents for about $3,190 a month. Owning the typical Chatham home, with 20% down at the calculator’s rate, runs about $9,590 with tax and insurance: 3 times as much. Can I afford it? ↓
Most new homes are apartments and condos
Of the 697 homes permitted in Chatham’s past 10 years, 77% were in buildings with two or more homes, not single-family houses. New homes ↓
Written from the data on this page. Home values are the Zillow Home Value Index, through September 2026; sales and supply are Redfin’s for May 2026; permits are Census figures through 2025; incomes, rents paid, taxes and ownership come from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Chatham’s grade
Measured against what households in the area earn, Chatham is more affordable than 6% of U.S. towns, #343 of 468 in New Jersey. Home prices pull the grade down most; the share of households paying 30%+ for housing holds it up.
Values have outpaced New Jersey: the typical Chatham home is up 44.5% in five years, against 35.2% statewide (Zillow).
Up 11.1% in a year
Faster than New Jersey (4%).
Show as a table
| January | Chatham | New Jersey |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $850,000 | $313,000 |
| 2018 | $876,000 | $326,000 |
| 2019 | $893,000 | $339,000 |
| 2020 | $861,000 | $353,000 |
| 2021 | $897,000 | $389,000 |
| 2022 | $974,000 | $436,000 |
| 2023 | $1,018,000 | $466,000 |
| 2024 | $1,097,000 | $506,000 |
| 2025 | $1,175,000 | $544,000 |
| 2026 | $1,278,000 | $562,000 |
| September 2026 | $1,370,000 | $575,000 |
A typical Chatham home worth $840K in October 2016 is worth about $1.37M today.
Zillow Home Value Index: the typical value of all homes (middle third), smoothed and seasonally adjusted, through September 2026.
Too few sales to read the market
Only 9 homes sold in May 2026, the latest month in Redfin’s figures: too few to describe the market or quote a median sale price.
A typical home costs 9.9 years of area income
The calculator starts from the area income the grade uses. Switch to Chatham’s own median, or type yours.
That’s $1.04M short of a typical Chatham home.
A two-bedroom rents for about $3,190 a month here, $6,400 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, the New Jersey typical property tax (2.11% 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 $3,190
Renters already here pay a median of $2,250, 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 (Newark, 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.
5 new homes permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 5 new homes in Chatham in 2025, all single-family houses, worth about $9.7 million to build. That's 0.5 per 1,000 residents, slower than across New Jersey (3.1). Over the past 10 years, Chatham has permitted 697 homes in all.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Chatham gained 250 residents while 161 new homes were permitted: about 1.6 new residents per new home, about the same as across New Jersey (2.0).
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 21 | 10 | 11 | $9.8 million |
| 2025 | 5 | 5 | 0 | $9.7 million |
| 2024 | 95 | 16 | 79 | $24.1 million |
| 2023 | 133 | 12 | 121 | $28.9 million |
| 2022 | 347 | 11 | 336 | $73.4 million |
| 2021 | 14 | 14 | 0 | $5 million |
| 2020 | 27 | 27 | 0 | $9.2 million |
| 2019 | 18 | 18 | 0 | $6.7 million |
| 2018 | 16 | 16 | 0 | $6.2 million |
| 2017 | 23 | 23 | 0 | $10 million |
| 2016 | 19 | 19 | 0 | $7.6 million |
| 2015 | 17 | 17 | 0 | $5.3 million |
| 2014 | 12 | 12 | 0 | $4.3 million |
| 2013 | 16 | 16 | 0 | $6.3 million |
| 2012 | 15 | 15 | 0 | $5.3 million |
| 2011 | 13 | 13 | 0 | $4.2 million |
| 2010 | 12 | 12 | 0 | $2.9 million |
| 2009 | 11 | 11 | 0 | $2.8 million |
| 2008 | 13 | 13 | 0 | $3.1 million |
| 2007 | 10 | 10 | 0 | $3.2 million |
| 2006 | 10 | 10 | 0 | $2.5 million |
| 2005 | 9 | 9 | 0 | $1.7 million |
| 2004 | 18 | 10 | 8 | $4.4 million |
| 2003 | 4 | 2 | 2 | $661,000 |
| 2002 | 5 | 3 | 2 | $944,000 |
| 2001 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $739,000 |
| 2000 | 12 | 7 | 5 | $1.2 million |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
High tax bills, but a low tax rate
The median bill is $10,000+ (New Jersey: $9,590), because homes cost more. As a share of value it’s 1.02%+ 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 Chatham
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.
Chatham vs. its neighbors
Of the 4 towns here with a Zillow value, Chatham has the 3rd-lowest. Chatham Township has no Zillow value, so it is in the table only.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, September 2026 | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatham | D | $1.4M | $985K | 1.02%+ | $3,190 |
| Summit | D | $1.4M | $995K | 1.01%+ | $3,000 |
| Millburn Township | D | $1.3M | $1.4M | 0.73%+ | $2,960 |
| Chatham Township | – | — | $1.1M | 0.93%+ | $3,190 |
| Florham Park | D− | $1.0M | $791K | 1.26%+ | $3,290 |
“+”: the Census reports the tax bill only as $10,000 or more, so the rate is at least that. “—” under Cost: not graded (too little Census data, or under 1,000 residents). “—” under Zillow: Zillow publishes no value for that town, so it’s left blank rather than mixed with Census figures.
Questions about the cost of living in Chatham
Is Chatham expensive to live in?
Measured against what households in the area earn, Chatham costs more than 94% of U.S. towns: a D for cost of living, #343 of 468 in New Jersey. The typical home costs 9.9 years of the median household income of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area ($99K).
How much does a house cost in Chatham?
About $1.4M, Zillow’s typical value for September 2026, up 11.1% in a year. The New Jersey typical home is $575K.
What salary do you need to live in Chatham?
To buy the typical home with 20% down at 6.3%, about $411,000 a year, keeping the payment (about $9,590 a month with tax and insurance) at 28% of income. To rent a two-bedroom at 30% of income, about $128,000.
How much is rent in Chatham?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $3,190 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $2,250 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Chatham?
The median bill is $10,000+ a year, 1.02% of the median home value (New Jersey: $9,590, 2.11%), from the Census 2020–24.
Are home prices in Chatham going up?
Yes: up 11.1% in the past year and 44.5% in five years, against 35.2% across New Jersey (Zillow).
Neighbors talk housing
What Chatham buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research, September 2026. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center, May 2026. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. 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.