Chatham, NJ · Updated Oct 2026

What a Chatham home costs each year

Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.

Suggestions as you type come from Google; the lookup uses free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a Chatham house

$23,840a year · $1,987 a month

Starts at $1,004,213 of value before exemptions. Typical use.

Property tax$17,513
1.744% of $1,004,213
Electricity and gas$3,139
783 kWh a month $1,923 · 86.6667 therms $1,215
Water and sewer$1,224
9 units (CCF) a month on Borough of Chatham Water Utility: water $55, sewer $47 a month
Trash$547
Medium cart (64 gal), $46 a month
Home insurance$1,417
Typical premium $1,417

A typical Chatham house costs about $23,800 a year: $17,510 property tax and charges, $1,220 water and sewer, $550 trash, $3,140 electricity and gas, $1,420 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 29, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Ways to pay less

Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:

Switch to the small cart (35 gal) cartUp to $234 a year
Your cart costs $46 a month; the smallest costs $26. Worth it if you rarely fill it.
How: Call your garbage hauler.
Homeowners with income up to $250,000: ANCHOR property tax reliefUp to $1,500 a year
New Jersey pays homeowners $1,500 if 2025 income was $150,000 or less, or $1,000 if it was $150,001 to $250,000. The state filed for most homeowners under 65; seniors and disability recipients apply on Form PAS-1.
How: Check your status or apply on the NJ Division of Taxation ANCHOR page by November 2, 2026.
Seniors 65+: Stay NJUp to $6,500 a year
Seniors who owned and lived in their home all of 2025 can get up to $6,500 a year with income up to $100,000, $5,000 up to $150,000, or $4,000 up to $200,000.
How: File Form PAS-1 by November 2, 2026.
Seniors 65+ or disabled, with limited income: $250 property tax deductionUp to $250 a year
Homeowners 65 or older, or disabled, who have been New Jersey residents for at least one year and do not exceed the income threshold may be eligible for an annual $250 property tax deduction.
How: File Form PTD and all documentary proofs with your local assessor or tax collector.
Veterans: $250 property tax deductionUp to $250 a year
Honorably discharged veterans with active duty military service may qualify for an annual $250 property tax deduction.
How: File Form V.S.S. and all documentary proofs with your local assessor or tax collector.
100% disabled veterans: property tax exemptionAnnual exemption on your main home
Honorably discharged veterans who were 100% permanently and totally disabled during active duty service may qualify for an annual property tax exemption on their main home.
How: File Form D.V.S.S.E. and documentary proofs with your local assessor.

Adjust to match your bills

What you knowTrash cartBilled once a year by the Borough; shown here as the yearly charge divided by 12.

Value before exemptionsUse the assessed value on your tax bill, not what the house would sell for. The 2025 assessed-to-true-value ratio was 83.67%, so assessments run somewhat below sale prices.

Home insurance, a yearFrom your policy. We start at $1,417, New Jersey statewide average, 2022 (NAIC data, via the Insurance Information Institute).

Your use

Water, units a month

On your water bill. 1 unit (CCF) is 748 gallons. A typical Chatham house uses about 9.

Electricity, kWh a month

On your JCP&L (Jersey Central Power & Light) bill. An electric car adds about 300 kWh.

Gas, therms a month (yearly average)

Money dates

Feb 1, May 1, Aug 1, Nov 1in 89 daysQuarterly property tax due dates; payments received after 10 days of the due date incur interest.
Apr 1Paper property assessment appeals must be at the Board of Taxation by close of business (4pm) on April 1st.

Who serves this house

Water: Borough of Chatham Water Utility; Billed quarterly; the rate per 100 cubic feet depends on the quarterly use bracket and applies to all use in the bracket; minimum bill $36 a quarter
Property tax: 1.74% of value; 2026 tax year, Chatham Borough (Morris County)
Garbage: Chatham Borough (Suburban Disposal); Borough containers must be used; Suburban Disposal is listed.
Sewer: Chatham Borough; Billed quarterly on the same bill as water, based on metered water use.
Electricity: JCP&L; Chatham (07928) is on JCP&L's zip-code list.
Gas: PSE&G; Chatham, Borough of is listed in PSE&G's gas tariff.

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: Three wells over 150 feet deep draw groundwater from the Buried Valley Aquifer system of the Central Passaic River Basin.
Lead: Lead at the 90th percentile was 1.4 ppb (action level 15); no samples exceeded the action level (2024 results).
PFOA: PFOA was detected at 3.98 ppt against a standard of 14 ppt (2024 results).

Other NJ cities

Clifton home costs Summit home costs Bridgeton home costs Point Pleasant home costs Ramsey home costs Perth Amboy home costs Elizabeth home costs Trenton home costs Linden home costs Princeton home costs Fort Lee home costs Glassboro home costs North Plainfield home costs Elmwood Park home costs Palisades Park home costs New Milford home costs North Arlington home costs South River home costs Edgewater home costs Middlesex home costs Hopatcong home costs Roselle Park home costs New Providence home costs Eatontown home costs Oakland home costs Freehold home costs Bound Brook home costs Hasbrouck Heights home costs Wallington home costs Bellmawr home costs Ridgefield home costs Wanaque home costs Westwood home costs Manville home costs Lincoln Park home costs Somers Point home costs South Amboy home costs Hillsdale home costs Burlington home costs Woodbury home costs

How these numbers are made

Property tax: the Borough Tax Office's 2026 rate of 1.744 per $100 of assessed value (regional school 1.112, county .262, county open space .008, local .323, library .039), applied to the state's 2026 average residential assessment of $1,004,213. Assessments are about 83.67% of true value (2025 ratio).
Water: the Borough's own utility (PWS ID NJ1404001) bills per 100 cubic feet by quarterly use bracket: $6.08 up to 4,000 cubic feet, $6.26 for 4,001 to 10,000 and $6.56 above 10,000; we convert the quarterly brackets to monthly (divide by 3). The rate applies to all use in the bracket, which we approximate as tiers; this makes no difference at the typical 9 CCF a month. There is a $36 quarterly minimum bill. The $6.08 bracket rate is from the Borough's 2026 rate analysis; the 2026 fee schedule lists the other two and the sewer rate.
Sewer: $5.25 per 100 cubic feet of water used (2026 fee schedule), no fixed charge. Typical use is the 2,700 cubic feet a quarter average from the Borough's rate analysis (9 CCF a month).
Garbage: the 2026 annual solid waste charge by cart size ($313, $547, $791) divided by 12; cart gallon sizes are from the Borough's 2023 garbage program Q&A. Medium cart is shown as the default.
Electricity is JCP&L's RS rate and gas is PSE&G's RSG rate; both are the residential tariff rates of the utilities that serve Chatham (JCP&L serves ZIP 07928 in Morris County per its ZIP list; PSE&G's gas territory lists Chatham Borough, its electric territory list does not). Typical use is 783 kWh and 86.67 therms a month. Insurance is the 2022 New Jersey statewide average. The statewide insurance average is probably low for a house as valuable as Chatham's median home.
Electric tiers blend the June-September and October-May tariff rates, weighting 4 and 8 months.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Chatham compares

A typical Chatham house against the 41 New Jersey cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Chatham	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	1.74%	2.66%	lower than 35 of the other 38 New Jersey cities we cover
Water	$657	$771	lower than 31 of the other 40 New Jersey cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$567	$600	lower than 13 of the other 22 New Jersey cities we cover
Trash	$547	$0	higher than 28 of the other 29 New Jersey cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$3,139	$3,056	higher than 26 of the other 40 New Jersey cities we cover
Home insurance	$1,417	$1,417	in the middle of 40 other New Jersey cities we cover
Total	$23,840	$16,741	higher than 37 of the other 40 New Jersey cities we cover

Cities bill differently (some put trash on the tax bill, some cover more services), so a higher number isn't necessarily worse. The property tax rate is compared instead of dollars because house values differ.

Questions to ask your candidates

Each one starts from a number above. Any candidate can answer them.

1. Property tax rate

The fact: Chatham's property tax rate is 1.74%, lower than 35 of the other 38 New Jersey cities we cover. The rate adds up every agency on the bill, not only the city.

Ask: "Property tax in Chatham is 1.74%, lower than 35 of the other 38 New Jersey cities we cover. What should that money pay for first, and would you change anything about how it is set?"

2. Water

The fact: Water here costs about $657 a year at typical use, lower than 31 of the other 40 New Jersey cities we cover.

Ask: "Water here costs about $657 a year at typical use, lower than 31 of the other 40 New Jersey cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

3. Trash

The fact: Trash pickup here costs about $547 a year for the standard cart, higher than 28 of the other 29 New Jersey cities we cover. Where trash is billed through the tax bill or a separate hauler, it is not counted here.

Ask: "Trash pickup here costs about $547 a year for the standard cart, higher than 28 of the other 29 New Jersey cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything about the service or the price?"

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Common questions about Chatham house costs

What is the property tax rate in Chatham?

About 1.74% of the value before exemptions a year (2026 tax year, Chatham Borough (Morris County)), plus flat charges on the same bill.

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Chatham?

About $8,720 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions.

How much is the water bill in Chatham?

About $102 a month for water and sewer at typical use (9 units, or 6,732 gallons a month) on Borough of Chatham Water Utility.

How much does trash pickup cost in Chatham?

$26 to $66 a month, depending on the trash cart size (Small cart (35 gal), Medium cart (64 gal), Large cart (95 gal)).

When is property tax due in Chatham?

Feb 1, May 1, Aug 1, Nov 1: Quarterly property tax due dates; payments received after 10 days of the due date incur interest.

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Chatham?

Yes. Homeowners with income up to $250,000: ANCHOR property tax relief (up to $1,500 a year): New Jersey pays homeowners $1,500 if 2025 income was $150,000 or less, or $1,000 if it was $150,001 to $250,000. The state filed for most homeowners under 65; seniors and disability recipients apply on Form PAS-1.

How much does a house in Chatham cost to run each year?

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