Guide Reviewed against public records, October 2026
There is no set length. In a study of two California programs, residents stayed 166 and 254 days on average, and in a 2023 study, people who stayed six months or longer had better outcomes than those who left sooner.
Waldwick Old Tappan Closter, Bergen County, NJ Class F licensed by NJ DCA Rides to evening treatment
Studies measure stays in months: averages of 166 and 254 days at two California programs, a little over a year in the Oxford House model, and six months as the line where outcomes improved.
Average stay166 and 254 days
The team studied 300 people entering two California sober living programs. Residents of Options Recovery Services in Berkeley stayed 254 days on average; residents of Clean and Sober Transitional Living in Sacramento County stayed 166 days. The authors note that both averages passed NIDA's recommendation of at least 90 days. People the team could not follow up with had shorter stays.
Oxford House modelA little over 1 year
Oxford Houses are governed by their residents, with no professional staff and no maximum stay. The paper's description of the model puts the average stay at a little more than a year and notes that many residents stay three years or more. Its experiment assigned 150 adults in Illinois to an Oxford House or usual care and followed them for 24 months.
Outcome line6 months
The study followed 455 residents of 48 sober living houses in Los Angeles County. It compared people who stayed six months or longer (171) with people who left sooner (284) and measured their outcomes 12 months after they entered the study.
All three studies are from outside New Jersey. They describe the sober living homes, or recovery residences, they studied, not a rule for any one home. Sources
In the 2023 study, staying six months or longer went with more days abstinent and fewer psychiatric, substance use and legal problems a year later. It is an association from California houses, not a guarantee.
At a glance
The six-month study, in three numbers
Source: Subbaraman et al., 2023.
| Outcome at 12 months | Six months or longer, compared with leaving sooner |
|---|---|
| Days abstinent | 7.76 percentage points more |
| Psychiatric symptoms | 0.88 times as many |
| Depression symptoms | 0.84 times as many |
| Odds of any substance use disorder | 0.65 times the odds |
| Odds of any legal problems | 0.58 times the odds |
| Source: Subbaraman et al., 2023. 455 residents of 48 sober living houses, Los Angeles County, California. Adjusted for demographics, treatment, 12-step attendance, substance use in the social network and psychiatric symptoms. An association, not proof of cause. | |
NJ Sober Living has not published a fixed length of stay. Residents step toward living on their own as stability holds, and the call is the place to talk your own timeline through.
What holds a longer stay together
Time is one signal. The research points to two more, a recovery routine you keep up and fewer people around you who drink or use, and the practical one is a sober place to live next.
In the 2023 study, six months was the line between leaving early and stable residence, and people who stayed that long did better a year later.
In the Polcin study, involvement in 12-step groups was the strongest predictor of the main outcomes, including abstinence. Whatever your support is, it should be one you will keep after you move.
At one of the two programs Polcin studied, heavier drinking and drug use in a resident's social network went with worse alcohol and drug outcomes.
Know where you will live, who you will live with, and how your outpatient care or recovery support carries on after the move.
Ninety days is a treatment figure, not a housing one: Polcin and colleagues compared sober living stays with the National Institute on Drug Abuse recommendation of at least 90 days. The average stays in their study, 166 and 254 days, both ran past it, and a 2023 study tied stays of six months or longer to better outcomes than leaving sooner.
It depends on the home. Oxford Houses set no maximum stay (Jason et al., 2006). Some programs run in phases instead: at one California program, the first phase lasted 30 to 90 days, with a curfew and 12-step meetings (Polcin et al., 2010). NJ Sober Living has not published a maximum stay. Ask any home, ours included, before you move in.
Leaving early is not the end of recovery. In the 2023 study, people who left before six months also improved on every outcome measured between the start of the study and 12 months later; they did less well than people who stayed. Keep treatment going and line up a sober place to live next. If use returns, read what to do after a relapse.
At NJ Sober Living, yes. Residents must be working, in school or in treatment, or begin one of those within 30 days of moving in. Residents in outpatient treatment keep the schedule their outside program sets, and the house drives them to evening sessions and back.
General information, not medical or legal advice.
Four recovery homes in Waldwick, Old Tappan and Closter, Class F licensed by NJ DCA, with rides to evening treatment.