Architectural and Civil Drafters in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,838
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$12,122
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,690
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
$62,960
Kept after tax
$50,838
Worth in national money
$46,690
State rank
30
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $62,960, ranking 30 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in New Jersey, this sits in the middle: 267 of 490 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $62,960 the take-home is $50,838. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $46,690 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $67,820, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Jersey occupies the middle band for architectural and civil drafters: a median of $62,960, ranking 30 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Architectural and civil drafters ranks 267 of 490 occupations in New Jersey by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $50,838 for architectural and civil drafters, from $62,960. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $46,690. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $67,820 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Architectural and Civil Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $96,120 |
| This salary | $62,960 |
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 | $50,838 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,768 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,612 |
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 | $60,557 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,206 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in New Jersey earn less than $62,960. The published range is $44,700 up to $96,120, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Jersey's $50,838, worked from $62,960. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 267 of 490.
- One number stands for prices across all of New Jersey, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $46,690, the adjusted value of that $62,960 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 267 of 490 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for architectural and civil drafters in New Jersey the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $44,700 to $96,120. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The New Jersey take-home of $50,838, on $62,960 for work ranking 267 of 490 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 267 of 490 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $46,690 — the adjusted value of that $62,960 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 267 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $67,820, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $44,700 and the top tenth $96,120 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in New Jersey run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $46,690 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $50,838.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $67,820. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($44,700) and the ninetieth ($96,120) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $46,690 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 $50,838 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.