NJ:PA=COMPARE("NJ", "PA")
New Jersey vs Pennsylvania: two economies side by side
New Jersey and Pennsylvania share a border. Here are the two economies on the same measures, with the rank of each among 51 states and DC.
MideastNew Jersey leads on 6, Pennsylvania on 5 of 11 measures
| Indicator | A · NJ | B · PA | Ranks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP, 2025 | $887.8B | $1.06T | 11 · 6 | ||
| Real GDP growth, 2025 | +2.0% | +1.8% | 22 · 29 | ||
| Real growth a year since 2015 | +1.7% | +1.1% | 28 · 46 | ||
| GDP per person | $92,980 | $80,898 | 13 · 27 | ||
| Income per person, 2025 | $89,720 | $75,370 | 7 · 22 | ||
| Real income per person (2017 $) | $63,142 | $58,620 | 12 · 24 | ||
| Price level (US = 100) | 108.8 | 97.6 | 4 · 24 | ||
| Housing costs (US = 100) | 134.3 | 85.1 | 3 · 27 | ||
| Unemployment, September 2026 | 4.2% | 3.6% | 32 · 22 | ||
| Population | 9,548,215 | 13,059,432 | 11 · 5 | ||
| Population growth a year since 2020 | +0.59% | +0.10% | 22 · 42 |
Highlighted: the higher value, or the lower one for prices and unemployment. BEA (GDP, income, price parities), BLS (unemployment).
New JerseyPennsylvania
New JerseyPennsylvania
Industry mix, 2025
Share of each state’s GDP. Sorted by the gap between the two.
| Industry | NJ | PA | Gap, pp | Larger in | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale trade | 9.2% | 6.1% | 3.1 | NJ | |
| Real estate | 15.8% | 12.8% | 3.0 | NJ | |
| Finance & insurance | 6.4% | 8.4% | 2.0 | PA | |
| Health care | 8.6% | 10.5% | 1.9 | PA | |
| Manufacturing | 8.5% | 10.1% | 1.7 | PA | |
| Professional services | 9.8% | 8.2% | 1.6 | NJ | |
| Mining, oil & gas | 0.1% | 1.4% | 1.3 | PA | |
| Education | 1.2% | 2.4% | 1.2 | PA | |
| Administrative & waste services | 3.8% | 2.6% | 1.2 | NJ | |
| Construction | 3.4% | 4.0% | 0.6 | PA | |
| Management of companies | 2.5% | 3.0% | 0.6 | PA | |
| Government | 9.1% | 8.6% | 0.6 | NJ | |
| Information | 4.8% | 4.4% | 0.4 | NJ | |
| Agriculture | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.3 | PA | |
| Other services | 2.0% | 2.3% | 0.2 | PA | |
| Arts & recreation | 1.0% | 1.2% | 0.2 | PA | |
| Transportation & warehousing | 3.7% | 3.6% | 0.2 | NJ | |
| Accommodation & food | 2.7% | 2.6% | 0.2 | NJ | |
| Utilities | 1.6% | 1.6% | 0.0 | ||
| Retail trade | 5.8% | 5.7% | 0.0 |
Real GDP growth 2025, %
−1.0%+5.1%
AL+2.0%AK+4.7%AZ+1.5%AR+0.9%CA+3.5%CO+1.9%CT+2.5%DE+5.1%DC−1.0%FL+2.8%GA+2.9%HI+1.5%ID+3.1%IL+2.6%IN+1.9%IA−0.4%KS+1.0%KY+3.0%LA+1.5%ME+1.4%MD+0.8%MA+1.3%MI+2.2%MN+0.7%MS+1.3%MO+1.2%MT+2.0%NE+1.3%NV+2.0%NH+1.7%NJ+2.0%NM+1.8%NY+2.5%NC+1.8%ND+0.5%OH+2.4%OK+2.2%OR+1.4%PA+1.8%RI+2.8%SC+3.3%SD+1.8%TN+2.1%TX+2.8%UT+2.7%VT+1.9%VA+2.3%WA+3.2%WV+2.8%WI+0.8%WY+0.1%