Executive summary

New Jersey is aging quickly and unevenly. The state’s 65-and-older population now exceeds 1.7 million residents (about 17.6% of NJ’s 9.3M total — U.S. Census ACS 2023), and the 85+ cohort is growing faster than any other age band. The four metropolitan counties — Bergen, Middlesex, Essex, Ocean — account for roughly 54% of the state’s 65+ population, but the concentration tells a different story: Ocean County leads NJ in 65+ as a percentage of total population (24.5%), followed by Bergen (16.5%) and Morris (16.4%). The aging-in-place trend is strong; 89% of NJ seniors reported wanting to stay in their current home as they age (AARP Aging-in-Place Survey, 2024). The economic gap between that preference and the actual home-care market is the central story of this report.

1. NJ at a glance — state-level numbers

2. NJ home-care cost reality (Genworth 2024)

The Genworth Cost of Care Survey is the most-cited cost benchmark in the senior-care industry. For New Jersey:

Care type	NJ median cost	Unit
Homemaker services	$35	per hour
Home Health Aide (CHHA)	$37	per hour
Adult day health care	$112	per day
Assisted living (private 1BR)	$7,200	per month
Nursing home (semi-private)	$13,500	per month
Nursing home (private)	$14,500	per month

Source: Genworth 2024 Cost of Care Survey, New Jersey state averages. Updated annually; figures reflect 2024 publication.

The home-care affordability gap: at NJ’s median CHHA rate of $37/hour, 8 hours per day of professional home care costs roughly $8,880/month — comparable to assisted living, but with the senior remaining in their home. Most NJ families combine 6-8 hours of professional home care with family-caregiver hours to stay below assisted-living monthly cost while preserving aging-in-place.

Use the NJ Home Care Cost Calculator to estimate your specific scenario.

3. County-by-county aging breakdown

NJ’s 21 counties show wide variation in senior population concentration. Below: aging stats for the 11 New Jersey counties 24 Hour Home Care NJ actively serves. Each county name links to our local home-care coverage page.

County	65+ pop	% of county	Hospitals*	Primary tertiary hospital	Aging-in-place notes
Bergen	157K	16.5%	6	Hackensack University Medical Center	Largest NJ county by 65+ population; highest concentration in Bergen’s North hills
Middlesex	95K	11.5%	5	Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital	Diverse mix: Edison + East Brunswick high-density 65+
Monmouth	96K	15.1%	5	Jersey Shore University Medical Center	Concentrated in Two-River + LBI seasonal communities
Ocean	150K	24.5%	4	Community Medical Center	Highest 65+ percentage in NJ; Manchester / Toms River senior communities
Essex	95K	12.1%	6	Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center	Concentrated in Livingston / Short Hills / West Orange / Caldwells
Union	77K	14.0%	3	Overlook Medical Center	Aging-in-place stable; established suburban towns
Morris	82K	16.4%	4	Morristown Medical Center	Affluent aging-in-place: Mendham / Harding / Chatham / Madison
Somerset	52K	15.5%	3	Robert Wood Johnson Somerset	Equestrian-belt aging-in-place: Bedminster / Far Hills / Bernardsville
Mercer	57K	15.4%	4	Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center	Princeton academic-family + Trenton mixed
Passaic	65K	13.0%	4	Saint Joseph’s Wayne Medical Center	Urban Paterson + suburban Wayne / Wyckoff split
Hudson	67K	9.4%	3	Hoboken University Medical Center	Lowest 65+ percentage in NJ; younger urban mix

* Counts major non-specialty hospitals; full hospital list at NJ Hospital Discharge Directory. Population data: U.S. Census ACS 2023, NJ Department of Health.

4. The NJ caregiver workforce

NJ’s home-health-aide workforce is among the largest in the country — and one of the most challenging to staff sustainably. Key data:

• NJ home health aide employment: ~70,000 active CHHAs (Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2023)
• Annual turnover (industry average): ~64-70% (Home Care Pulse Benchmarking Study, 2024)
• NJ Certified Home Health Aide license: required for all hands-on home-care work; administered by the NJ Board of Nursing
• Median NJ home-health-aide wage: ~$18-22/hour (BLS OEWS 2023; varies by region)
• Most common languages on NJ rosters: English, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Tagalog, Portuguese, Korean, Mandarin, Hindi, Gujarati (estimated; varies by agency)

Industry context: the 64-70% annual turnover number is the single biggest reason families end up cycling through caregivers from rotating-staff agencies. Boutique single-caregiver continuity — the model 24 Hour Home Care NJ uses — exists specifically to break that cycle for families who can afford the premium.

5. Aging-in-place vs. facility-based care: NJ trends

• 89% of NJ seniors prefer to age in their current home (AARP, 2024)
• ~5% of NJ seniors 65+ live in nursing facilities (down from 8% in 2010 — Kaiser Family Foundation / KFF)
• ~3.5% live in assisted living (varies by reporting standard; KFF estimate)
• Remaining ~91% live in private homes, either independently, with a family caregiver, with paid home-care support, or some combination

This is the demographic the home-care industry serves: the 1.5+ million NJ seniors who want to remain at home, and the family caregivers (often adult children, often out-of-state) coordinating the support.

6. Payer mix — how NJ families fund home care

Private home care in New Jersey is paid through three major channels, often in combination. Approximate distribution based on NJ Department of Human Services + KFF data:

• Private pay (out of pocket): ~50-60% of NJ home-care hours — the dominant channel for the kind of continuous coverage families actually need
• Long-Term Care Insurance reimbursement: ~15-20% — concentrated among NJ seniors who bought policies in the 1990s-2010s
• Medicaid waiver (Managed Long Term Services and Supports): ~20-25% — for income-qualified seniors
• Medicare home-health: short-term post-acute only (skilled nursing visits + PT/OT, time-limited); not a primary funding source for ongoing daily care
• VA Aid & Attendance pension: small but underused channel for veterans and surviving spouses

Most private-pay NJ families combine sources. A typical pattern: 4-6 hours/day private-pay daily companion care, supplemented by short-term skilled Medicare hours after a hospital discharge, with LTCi reimbursement filed monthly.

7. Hospital discharge volume — where home-care demand spikes

Hospital discharge to home is the single most common point of home-care demand inflection. NJ-relevant numbers:

• NJ Medicare 30-day readmission rate: ~15-19% (CMS data, varies by hospital + diagnosis)
• Highest-volume NJ tertiary hospitals (discharge to home): Hackensack UMC, RWJUH New Brunswick, Cooperman Barnabas Livingston, Morristown Medical, Penn Medicine Princeton, Holy Name Teaneck
• Same-day-of-discharge home-care setup dramatically reduces 30-day readmissions — multiple peer-reviewed studies confirm this

The NJ Hospital Discharge Directory lists every major NJ tertiary and community hospital with case-management contact information.

Methodology and sources

This report compiles publicly-available data from federal and state sources, current through the publication date (May 14, 2026). All numbers are rounded for readability; precise figures are available from the source publications below.

• U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS), 2023 release
• CDC NCHS Life Expectancy data, 2022
• Genworth Cost of Care Survey, 2024
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for Home Health and Personal Care Aides, 2023
• AARP — Aging in Place Survey, 2024
• Kaiser Family Foundation — Medicare / Aging policy data
• New Jersey Department of Health
• CMS Hospital Compare (readmission rates)
• ACL — Aging and Disability Networks

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How to cite this report

About the author: Sofia Elmer, RN — Registered Nurse at 24 Hour Home Care NJ. Compiled with input from the NJ home-care field operations team.