What salary do you need to live in Atlantic City, NJ?

What housing costs in Atlantic City

Census figures put the median gross rent in the Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ metro at $1,088 for a one-bedroom, $1,437 for a two-bedroom and $1,806 for a three-bedroom. Moving from one to two bedrooms adds $349 a month, and the third bedroom another $369.

Homeowners in Atlantic City report a median home value of $331,700. That works out to 4.0× the local median household income of $82,105, a mid-range ratio.

Price levels matter beyond rent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures Atlantic City's overall prices at 98.9 on a scale where the nation is 100, which makes a $100,000 salary feel like about $101,156 would elsewhere.

How much you need to earn in Atlantic City

With a two-bedroom at the median rent, the score enters Tight at $47,000, Okay at $94,000 and Comfortable at $189,000 a year before tax. At the Comfortable line, a year of rent takes 9% of income and the median home is 1.8× income.

Reaching Royal takes $595,000 — 3.1× the Comfortable line — because the last points come slowly once rent is already a small share.

Each figure is the lowest income, to the next $1,000, at which the calculator itself would show that grade for a two-bedroom in Atlantic City.

Scores at $50K, $75K, $100K and $150K in Atlantic City

At $75,000 home size barely changes the picture: one, two and three bedrooms all grade Tight, with scores from 35 to 43.

None of the four salaries reaches Comfortable for two bedrooms; even $150,000 scores 59, Okay, which fits the $189,000 line above.

Atlantic City compared with every US metro

Out of 387 metros, Atlantic City has the 98th highest price parity and the 87th highest two-bedroom rent, which puts it near the middle on overall prices and in the top quarter on rent.

For a sense of scale, the metros just above and below it on two-bedroom rent are Richmond, VA ($1,438) and Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT ($1,432).

Atlantic City vs. the rest of New Jersey

Compared with New Jersey as a whole, two-bedroom rent in Atlantic City is 20% lower ($1,437 vs. $1,804) and the median home is 27% lower ($331,700 vs. $454,400).

On statewide medians, a two-bedroom budget reaches Comfortable at $316,000 — above Atlantic City's $189,000 line.

Looking for somewhere comparable without leaving New Jersey? Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, and Vineland, NJ have the closest mix of rent and overall prices.

The median Atlantic City household

A household at the Atlantic City median income of $82,105 would see a two-bedroom score of 41 — Tight — with rent at 21% of income. Reaching Comfortable would take $106,895 more than the median household earns. Statewide, the New Jersey median household ($103,556) grades Tight on the state's own medians. Since a household can have two or more earners, compare it with a combined income rather than one paycheck.

All figures are pre-tax estimates from public data, not financial advice.