Cost of Living
per year
per month
How New Brunswick's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in New Brunswick?
Your $100,000 in New Brunswick has the same purchasing power as $81,149 in the average US city. You'd need $18,851 more here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of New Brunswick's cost index of 123, sorted by closest match.
Wondering whether you should move to New Brunswick? It depends on what you're optimizing for, but the city has real arguments in its favor: genuinely walkable, not just walkable-on-paper and bike infrastructure that actually exists, plus 1 more things worth knowing. The data behind each is below.
New Brunswick's Walk Score is 87/100 — top-tier walkability by US standards. Groceries, coffee, work, social life: most of it lands within reasonable foot range of wherever you live. A lot of residents skip car ownership entirely, which is its own form of savings on top of the lifestyle change.
New Brunswick's Bike Score is 80/100 — the kind of number you only get when a city has built real bike infrastructure (protected lanes, connected routes, drivers who expect cyclists). For commuting or just for getting around, the bike is a serious option here, not a hobby.
New Brunswick's air quality index averages about 44 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
Reasons are pulled from New Brunswick's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
New Brunswick gets a handful of meaningful snow days each year. Winters average about 28°F — cold enough for several inches at a time, warm enough for everything to melt between storms.
Cold but workable. Winter in New Brunswick averages about 28°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in New Brunswick runs about 84°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
New Brunswick falls in roughly USDA Zone 8. The zone classification is based on average annual minimum temperatures, so it's the right lookup for whether perennials and trees will overwinter here. Note that this is approximate from our winter-temperature data — check the USDA map for the exact zone before betting an expensive plant on it.
New Brunswick sits at about 66 feet (20 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Hurricane season covers June through November, with peak activity in late summer and early fall. For New Brunswick, the practical advice is: have a few days of water and supplies on hand from August onward, know your evacuation route, and don't wait for the news to tell you a storm is "probably nothing" — track the cone yourself.
Average for an American city. New Brunswick's reported crime rate of about 3,032 per 100,000 residents sits roughly in line with the US baseline of ~3,500. Like anywhere else, the citywide number masks real differences between neighborhoods — worth looking at specific areas before deciding.
Yes, noticeably. New Brunswick's cost-of-living index runs 123, about 23% above the US baseline. Housing usually accounts for most of the markup; groceries and services run higher too but with less drama.
Yes — New Brunswick is one of the more walkable US cities. A Walk Score of 87/100 means most daily errands can be done on foot in most neighborhoods. Transit Score is 32 out of 100. Many residents go car-free comfortably.
Roughly $86,261 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in New Brunswick runs about $1,754/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.