Childcare Workers in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,863
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$5,527
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,345
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
$36,390
Kept after tax
$30,863
Worth in national money
$28,345
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey is one of the better-paying states for childcare workers. The middle earner takes $36,390, which ranks 13 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 4.03% above the national middle.
- Within New Jersey this is lower-paid work. Of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, childcare workers ranks 469. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $36,390 the take-home is $30,863. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $28,345 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $37,640, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Jersey ranks 13 of 51 states publishing a median for childcare workers, at $36,390 — about 4.03% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Against every occupation New Jersey reports, childcare workers ranks 469 of 490, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $30,863 for childcare workers, from $36,390. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,345. ⚠️ 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 $37,640 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Childcare Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,800 |
| This salary | $36,390 |
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 | $30,863 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,419 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,987 |
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 | $35,698 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,822 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,390 as a midpoint for New Jersey, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,220 and the ninetieth is $44,800 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $30,863 take-home in New Jersey comes from $36,390. 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 469 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 $28,345, the adjusted value of that $36,390 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 469 of 490 in the state.
- The New Jersey median of $36,390 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,220 to $44,800. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $30,863, from $36,390, 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 469 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 13 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $28,345 — the adjusted value of that $36,390 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 469 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 $37,640, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $32,220 and the top tenth $44,800, so most people doing this work in New Jersey sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $28,345 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $30,863 remains.
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.
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 $37,640. 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 $44,800) 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 $28,345 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 $30,863 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.