Chefs and Head Cooks in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,530
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$15,750
21.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,755
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
$74,280
Kept after tax
$58,530
Worth in national money
$53,755
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for chefs and head cooks is strong here. New Jersey's middle earner gets $74,280, putting the state 6 of 51 — about 18.91% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in New Jersey, this sits in the middle: 227 of 490 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $74,280, tax leaves $58,530 — and because New Jersey is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $53,755 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $72,930.
- For chefs and head cooks, New Jersey sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $74,280, ranking 6 of 51 and running about 18.91% 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.
- Chefs and head cooks ranks 227 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.
- After tax, $58,530 remains from the New Jersey median of $74,280 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $53,755 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $72,930 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chefs and Head Cooks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $74,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,100 |
| This salary | $74,280 |
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 | $58,530 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,086 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,107 |
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 | $70,646 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,982 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of chefs and head cooks in New Jersey earn under $74,280 and half over. The published range runs $49,200 at the tenth percentile to $100,100 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $58,530 take-home in New Jersey comes from $74,280. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 227 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 $53,755, the adjusted value of that $74,280 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 227 of 490 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for chefs and head cooks in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,200 to $100,100; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $58,530, from $74,280, assumes a single New Jersey filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 227 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $53,755 — the adjusted value of that $74,280 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 227 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $49,200 at the bottom tenth to $100,100 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 $53,755 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 $58,530.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($49,200 to $100,100) 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 $53,755 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 $58,530 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.