Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,910
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$17,630
22.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,859
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
$79,540
Kept after tax
$61,910
Worth in national money
$56,859
State rank
35
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $79,540, ranking 35 of 49 states — about 6% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 179 among 490 occupations New Jersey publishes pay for.
- New Jersey is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $79,540 the take-home is $61,910; in national-average money that behaves like $56,859. The average comes to $92,210, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Jersey ranks 35 of 49 for biological science teachers, postsecondary, with a median of $79,540 — about 6% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 179 of 490 in New Jersey places biological science teachers, postsecondary in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Take-home for biological science teachers, postsecondary in New Jersey, on $79,540, is $61,910; deflated by the state's price level, $56,859. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $92,210 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $165,620 |
| This salary | $79,540 |
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 | $61,910 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,786 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,811 |
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 | $75,451 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,488 |
| 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 $79,540. The published range is $32,220 up to $165,620, 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 $61,910, worked from $79,540. 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 179 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 $56,859, the adjusted value of that $79,540 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 179 of 490 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for biological science teachers, postsecondary in New Jersey the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $32,220 to $165,620. 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 $61,910, on $79,540 for work ranking 179 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 179 of 490 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $56,859 — the adjusted value of that $79,540 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 179 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $92,210 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $32,220 and the top tenth $165,620 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. New Jersey costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $56,859 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and New Jersey's own levy, $61,910 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 $92,210. 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 ($32,220) and the ninetieth ($165,620) 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 $56,859 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 $61,910 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.