By Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

New Jersey is awash with million dollar listings, which is not a surprise given that the home values in the Garden State are among the highest in the United States.

But real estate wealth in New Jersey is not painted with even brush strokes. Using the state tax rolls, we mapped exactly where all of New Jersey's million dollar homes are and why some areas conspicuous absence indicates outdated tax structures.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

How we tackled the million dollar question

NJ Advance Media reporter Stephen Stirling explains how we analyzed wealth in the Garden State.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Every million dollar home in N.J.

This map shows every single one of New Jersey's tens of thousands of million dollar homes. We used the home's most recent assessed value to root out cases where people sold big homes to relatives for $1 (a fairly common practice). Zoom in or use the search bar to look specific areas and click on a dot for more detailed information.

This map was made using data from John Reiser's NJ Parcels, a great free resource of state tax data.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Where millionaires are clustered

When we look at the Garden State's million dollar homes in terms of density, not value, it's clear that they are clustered in certain sections of the state. Much like the last slide, you can click, zoom and search to find more info for a specific area.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Why are some areas blank?

You may notice that some areas are completely devoid of $1 million homes that perhaps shouldn't be. That's because we used the most recent assessed values of homes, rather than recent sale price. We did that because a surprising number of people sell their homes to relatives or friends for $1, which would eliminate them from the map.

We do, however, recognize that this method is also imperfect. Some towns (like Jersey City, pictured) have not done reassessments or revaluations of their property in decades, which allows them to keep their values (and, in turn, property taxes) artificially low. We're hoping we can produce a combination of sales and assessments in the future to give a truer list, but in its current state, this is why there are gaps.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

N.J. among the nation's richest states

New Jersey has long been one of the more wealthy states in the country when measured by median household income levels. In fact, three state counties rank in the top 10 in the United States for median household income. In some respects, this depiction of relative wealth is misleading, but more on that later.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The richest of the rich

Bergen and Essex Counties towns dominate the list of highest earning municipalities in the state, with North Caldwell in Essex County topping the list at more than $190,000 in median household income. But both counties are made up of dozens of small towns with disparate income levels, which is what keeps them out of the top 10 in the country. In counties like Somerset and Morris, the earning power is spread more evenly.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

In Short Hills, a millionaire's playground

In the Short Hills section of Millburn, nearly every home is assessed at $1 million or more. The density of million dollar homes is a major reason why Millburn routinely tops the list of New Jersey towns with the highest property taxes.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

In Bergen, highly concentrated wealth

Bergen County is an interesting duality. The county's separation into more than 70 municipalities allows for incredible income disparity. Towns like North Caldwell and Alpine are among the richest in the state, but others fall far below the average. Bergen has both the most million dollar homes in the state, yet does not rank among the top 3 counties for median income as a result.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The I-287 millionaire pipeline

One of the highest concentrations of million dollar homes is along Interstate 287 where Morris and Somerset Counties meet. The semi-rural, expansive properties that exist here and the relatively short commute to New York City made it attractive to wealthy homeowners during the suburban sprawl days of the 1980s and 1990s. Today, Somerset and Morris are among the top 10 richest counties in the United States.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

An island of millionaires in Sussex County

In Sparta in Sussex County, millionaires have their own island. Every home on Manitou Island on Lake Mohawk is valued at more than $1 million, according to data from NJ Parcels.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

People pay big to live along the N.J. coast

The Jersey Shore has the highest density of million dollar homes in New Jersey, albeit over a narrow area. Despite the ravages of Hurricane Sandy, the value of beachfront property in New Jersey remains high, according to data from NJ Parcels.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Beach access pumps up prices

Proximity to the beach is paramount in places like Spring Lake. The value of a home increases dramatically. Homes within 5 blocks of the beach in Spring Lake are generally around $1 million, while most homes within two blocks of the water were assessed at more than $5 million, according to data from NJ Parcels.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

In Cumberland County, just three $1M homes

Cumberland County is one of the poorest in New Jersey. Here, just three homes, including this one on Green Lake, are valued at $1 million or more.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Salem stands alone

Salem County is known for many things (muskrat anyone?), but millionaires is not one of them. Salem is the only county in New Jersey that does not have a home assessed at $1 million or more, according to data from NJ Parcels.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Wealth in N.J. comes at a cost

New Jersey may be one of the wealthiest states in the U.S., but it comes with a steep cost. It costs more to live in New Jersey than most places in the country. A recent study by the United Way showed that a family of four needs an income of at least $61,000 just to make ends meet in the Garden State, a threshold that 38 percent of residents fall below.

So, owning a million dollar home in New Jersey may not be as prestigious as one in a state with a lower cost of living.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Mapping New Jersey's millionaires

Today in our semi-regular series on New Jersey demographics, we look at how and where New Jersey's millionaires are spread across the state.