Living in Elizabeth, NJ
Union County
Elizabeth is New Jersey's fourth-largest city, the state's genuine first capital, and home to some of the region's most significant transportation infrastructure -- Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the principal container-ship facility for the entire New York metropolitan region and the northeastern United States, sits directly within Elizabeth's city limits, and Newark Liberty International Airport itself straddles the Essex/Union county line, with part of the airport sitting within Elizabeth rather than merely nearby. This real, major logistics-and-aviation infrastructure anchors Elizabeth's modern economy, led by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as the city's largest-cited employer, alongside Elizabethtown Gas Company and the Elizabeth Public Schools system. Elizabeth's real Revolutionary War-era heritage runs alongside this modern identity: Boxwood Hall, built around 1750, was home to Elias Boudinot -- President of the Continental Congress -- and a residence Alexander Hamilton visited frequently, now a National Historic Landmark and New Jersey State Historic Site. Elizabeth's own effective property-tax rate ran 2.54%, independently corroborated across two separate sources reviewed this pass -- a comparatively higher-confidence figure than some other New Jersey markets in this project -- running meaningfully above New Jersey's own already nation-leading statewide average. Elizabeth's median home value (approximately $534,666-$544,000) runs genuinely below New Jersey's own statewide average while remaining above the national median. This pass found Union County's own crime statistics genuinely favorable relative to national benchmarks (a violent-crime rate below the US average), though this record could not confirm a directly comparable city-specific rate for Elizabeth itself and discloses that limitation honestly rather than fabricating a precise figure. Elizabeth's poverty rate (approximately 15.75%) runs moderately above the national average, and Elizabeth Public Schools serves a genuinely diverse, higher-poverty student population.
Explore Elizabeth in depth
- Moving to Elizabeth: Pros, Cons & What to Know
- Cost of Living in Elizabeth
- Housing Market in Elizabeth
- Buying a Home in Elizabeth
- Renting in Elizabeth
- Taxes in Elizabeth
- Homeowners Insurance & Natural Hazard Costs in Elizabeth
- Climate & Weather in Elizabeth
- Jobs & Economy in Elizabeth
- Schools in Elizabeth
- Crime & Safety in Elizabeth
- Healthcare in Elizabeth
- Traffic & Transportation in Elizabeth
- Best Areas to Live in Elizabeth
- Pros and Cons of Living in Elizabeth
- Retiring in Elizabeth
- Who Should / Shouldn’t Move to Elizabeth
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Learn moreHousing
Taxes
Not independently sourced at the Union County level this session. New Jersey's top state income tax rate is 1.40%. See the New Jersey hub page for the statewide property tax context -- do not treat that figure as Elizabeth-specific.
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Get local guidanceThe tradeoffs
Pros
Genuinely major, direct proximity to Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal (the New York metro region's principal container-ship facility) and Newark Liberty International Airport, which sits partly within the city itself, not merely nearby -- a real, substantial logistics-and-aviation economic anchor; a real, distinct Revolutionary War-era heritage as New Jersey's first capital, anchored by the National Historic Landmark Boxwood Hall; real, substantial NJ Transit rail and bus access; a comparatively well-corroborated, moderate effective property-tax rate relative to some other New Jersey markets in this project; median home values that run genuinely below New Jersey's own statewide average; and a Union County-wide crime profile that runs genuinely favorable relative to national benchmarks.
Cons
A real, effective property-tax rate (2.54%) that runs meaningfully above New Jersey's own already nation-leading statewide average; a genuinely elevated poverty rate (approximately 15.75%) versus the national average; an Elizabeth Public Schools system serving a genuinely diverse, higher-poverty student population worth researching directly; and this pass's inability to confirm a directly comparable, well-sourced Elizabeth-city-specific crime rate distinct from the more favorable Union County-wide figure, a real, disclosed data-availability limitation rather than a confirmed citywide safety claim in either direction.
Who this fits
Best for: Best fits movers with a specific career connection to the Port Authority, Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, or Newark Liberty International Airport's own direct logistics and aviation employment base, given Elizabeth's genuinely unmatched proximity to both; urban-living seekers prioritizing New Jersey's fourth-largest-city scale and real, substantial NJ Transit access; and history-interested movers drawn to Elizabeth's genuine status as New Jersey's first capital and Boxwood Hall's Revolutionary War-era heritage.
Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for anyone requiring a confirmed, city-specific (not countywide) crime-rate figure before deciding, given this record's honest disclosure that a directly comparable Elizabeth-specific rate could not be confirmed this pass; nor for anyone assuming a below-statewide-average home value implies a below-statewide-average property-tax rate, given Elizabeth's own 2.54% effective rate running above New Jersey's already highest-in-the-nation statewide average.
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