You will almost certainly pay far less. New Jersey’s statewide average residential property tax bill was $9,898 for tax year 2024, while a house at New Hanover County’s $464,000 median sale price carries about $3,515 a year inside the Wilmington city limits and about $2,313 in the unincorporated county.
This is the first question most of our New Jersey buyers ask, usually before they ask about flood zones. It is also the question where the answer is least complicated, because the gap is not subtle. What takes longer to explain is where part of the savings goes back out the door, and we get to that below.
One note on method. Comparing tax rates between the two states tells you very little, because assessment practices differ and a rate means nothing without knowing what it is applied to. The honest comparison is bills against bills, so that is what we use.
What New Jersey households actually pay
The New Jersey Division of Taxation publishes an average residential tax bill for every municipality and county in the state. For tax year 2024, the most recent report published, the statewide average was $9,898. County averages ranged widely: Essex at $13,615, Bergen at $13,600, Union at $12,047, Morris at $11,757, Monmouth at $10,930, Hudson at $10,065, Middlesex at $9,528, Burlington at $7,786 and Ocean at $7,593.
Town-level figures from the same report tell you more than the state average does, because that is the number actually on your bill. Montclair averaged $21,635, Marlboro $12,144, Jersey City $10,624, Middletown $10,674, Edison $10,513, Hoboken $9,317, Toms River $7,896 and Brick $7,668.
What the same family pays here
In New Hanover County the bill has at most two lines: the county rate and, if you are inside a municipality, the town rate. For fiscal year 2026-2027 the county rate is 42.6 cents per $100 of assessed value and the City of Wilmington adds 33.15 cents, for a combined 75.75 cents, as reported by Port City Daily on July 10, 2026 when the county sent out its bills. Outside any town, property owners pay the county rate plus a 7.25-cent fire services tax, for 49.85 cents.
- New Jersey statewide average residential property tax bill, tax year 2024: $9,898 NJ Division of Taxation, MOD IV Average Residential Tax Report, tax year 2024
- Bergen County average $13,600; Essex $13,615; Monmouth $10,930; Ocean $7,593 NJ Division of Taxation, MOD IV Average Residential Tax Report, tax year 2024
- Combined Wilmington rate: 75.75 cents per $100, which is about $3,515 a year on a $464,000 house Port City Daily, New Hanover County FY2026-27 rates, July 10 2026; median price from our New Hanover market update, three months ending September 2026; arithmetic ours
- Unincorporated New Hanover County: 49.85 cents per $100 including the fire services tax, about $2,313 a year on the same house Port City Daily, July 10 2026; arithmetic ours
- Brunswick County: 0.342 per $100 for tax year 2026 with no municipal rate in the unincorporated areas, about $1,347 on that county’s $394,000 median sale price Brunswick County tax rates table, tax year 2026; median from our Brunswick County market update, three months ending September 2026; arithmetic ours
Put those side by side. A family leaving a Bergen County house with the county’s average $13,600 bill and buying at the New Hanover median pays roughly a quarter of that inside the city of Wilmington, and closer to a sixth of it if they buy in Brunswick County. The medians behind those figures come from our New Hanover County market update. Even a family coming from Ocean County, which has one of the lower averages in New Jersey at $7,593, generally sees the bill cut roughly in half.
Where part of the savings goes back out
Insurance. A coastal North Carolina homeowners policy carries a separate wind and hail deductible that is calculated as a percentage of your dwelling coverage rather than a flat dollar amount, and flood insurance is a separate policy again if the house sits in a mapped flood zone. Our guides to coastal homeowners insurance and Wilmington flood zones walk through both. Buyers who budget only the tax savings and not the insurance line are the ones who get surprised at closing.
The second thing to plan for is revaluation. North Carolina counties reassess property values on a cycle rather than every year, and when a reassessment lands in a market that has appreciated, bills move even if the rate does not. Ask what year the county you are buying in last revalued and when the next one is scheduled, because that is the difference between a stable bill and one that jumps.
Third, compare your own bill rather than the state average. New Jersey’s relief programs can reduce what a household actually pays, so a homeowner receiving a credit should compare the net figure, not the gross one. The arithmetic still favors North Carolina by a wide margin in every case we have run, but run yours.
What else changes about the tax picture
North Carolina taxes personal income at a single flat rate rather than on New Jersey’s graduated scale, which matters most to higher earners and to retirees drawing from accounts rather than wages. Sales tax applies differently to groceries and services in the two states. And North Carolina levies an annual tax on registered vehicles, collected with your registration renewal, which New Jersey households do not pay in the same form. None of those moves the needle like the property tax line, but they are part of what your actual monthly cost looks like once you are here. Our full guide on moving to Wilmington from New Jersey goes through the rest of the budget.
Two caveats we would want if we were the ones moving. First, the New Jersey figures above are tax year 2024, the most recent full report the Division of Taxation has published, and bills there have generally risen since, so the real gap is likely a little wider rather than narrower. Second, a lower tax bill is not the same as a lower cost of living. Homeowners insurance on the coast costs more than it does in most of New Jersey, a second car is usually necessary here, and if you buy inside a community with amenities the association dues can quietly absorb a chunk of what you saved on taxes. We have had New Jersey buyers who ended up spending close to what they spent at home, just on different lines. The property tax savings are real; treat the rest of the budget as its own question.
Related questions people also ask
What is the property tax rate in Wilmington, NC?
For fiscal year 2026-2027 the combined rate inside the Wilmington city limits is 75.75 cents per $100 of assessed value, made up of a 42.6-cent New Hanover County rate and a 33.15-cent city rate, as reported by Port City Daily on July 10, 2026. Outside any municipality, owners pay the county rate plus a 7.25-cent fire services tax, for 49.85 cents. On a house assessed at $400,000 that works out to about $3,030 inside the city and about $1,994 in the unincorporated county.
Do I pay town and county property tax in North Carolina like I do in New Jersey?
You pay a county rate, and a municipal rate on top of it only if the property sits inside a town or city. There is no separate school district tax line on a North Carolina property tax bill, which is one reason the total looks so different from a New Jersey bill. Many Wilmington-area buyers choose unincorporated New Hanover County or unincorporated Brunswick County specifically to avoid the municipal line, and the trade is that some services are county-provided rather than town-provided.
Which Wilmington-area county has the lowest property taxes?
Of the three counties we serve, Brunswick has the lowest county rate, at 0.342 per $100 for tax year 2026 according to the county’s own tax rates table, with no municipal rate in the unincorporated areas. New Hanover’s county rate for fiscal year 2026-2027 is 42.6 cents, reported by Port City Daily in July 2026, and municipalities add their own. The lower Brunswick rate is one reason Leland, Winnabow and the Brunswick beaches draw buyers who work in Wilmington, and the trade-offs are commute time across the Cape Fear River and a different set of school assignments.
Send us the New Jersey town you are leaving and the price range you are shopping here, and we will put your current bill next to the actual bill on two or three specific Wilmington-area houses, including the insurance estimate rather than just the tax line. If you would rather talk it through, schedule a consultation and we will build the comparison with you.
Sources: New Jersey Division of Taxation, MOD IV Average Residential Tax Report, tax year 2024, read November 3, 2026; Port City Daily, New Hanover County property tax bills and fiscal year 2026-2027 rates, July 10, 2026; Brunswick County tax rates table, tax year 2026; Tidal Realty Partners New Hanover County and Brunswick County market updates, three months ending September 2026. Dollar figures on specific house prices are arithmetic from the published rates above.
