Rank

3116of 3,144

Essex, New Jersey

Score 3.95 / 10· population 851,117

About 851,100 people live in Essex, New Jersey. It ranks #3,116 of 3,144 counties for liberty, and #19 of 21 in New Jersey. The combined sales tax is 6.62%, lower than in 51% of counties. Property tax takes at least 2% of a home's value each year, more than in 98% of counties. Local government employs a smaller share of working residents than in 70% of counties. The homicide rate is higher than in 86% of counties. Life expectancy is about 79.7 years, longer than in 89% of counties. Air quality is worse than in 69% of counties (a typical day's air quality index is 45), and flood and hurricane risk is higher than in 97% of counties. On this site's state scores, New Jersey gets 5.7 of 10 for economic freedom, based on the Fraser Institute's ranking, and 1 of 10 for gun rights.

v4 — beta, 30 October 2026, sourced values