Animal Caretakers in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,446
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$5,404
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,962
New Jersey costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New Jersey — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$35,850
Kept after tax
$30,446
Worth in national money
$27,962
State rank
17
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for animal caretakers is strong here. New Jersey's middle earner gets $35,850, putting the state 17 of 51 — about 1.39% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in New Jersey, this one sits low: 477 of 490 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $35,850, tax leaves $30,446 — and because New Jersey is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $27,962 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $39,940, since top earners drag the number up.
- For animal caretakers, New Jersey sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $35,850, ranking 17 of 51 and running about 1.39% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Animal caretakers occupies position 477 of 490 in New Jersey's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After tax, $30,446 remains from the New Jersey median of $35,850 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $27,962 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $39,940 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,620 |
| This salary | $35,850 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in New Jersey | $30,446 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,985 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,925 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $35,178 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,746 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,850 as a midpoint for New Jersey, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,220 and the ninetieth is $49,620 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In New Jersey the take-home figure of $30,446, from $35,850, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 477 of 490 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $27,962, the adjusted value of that $35,850 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New Jersey. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 477 of 490 locally.
- The New Jersey median of $35,850 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,220 to $49,620. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for New Jersey is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $30,446 from $35,850. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 477 of 490 locally.
- This $27,962 adjusted figure, worked from $35,850, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 477 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 477 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $39,940, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $32,220 at the bottom tenth to $49,620 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $27,962 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; New Jersey then takes its own share, leaving $30,446.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in New Jersey is $39,940. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,220 to $49,620) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New Jersey rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New Jersey's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $27,962 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $30,446 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New Jersey income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.