Computer Programmers in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,161
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$26,779
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,784
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
$104,940
Kept after tax
$78,161
Worth in national money
$71,784
State rank
10
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for computer programmers is strong here. New Jersey's middle earner gets $104,940, putting the state 10 of 46 — about 4.53% ahead of the national figure.
- Within New Jersey this is well-paid work. Of 490 occupations with published figures in the state, computer programmers ranks 89 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- New Jersey is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $104,940 the take-home is $78,161; in national-average money that behaves like $71,784. The average comes to $114,950, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For computer programmers, New Jersey sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $104,940, ranking 10 of 46 and running about 4.53% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation New Jersey publishes a median for, computer programmers sits 89 of 490 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Take-home for computer programmers in New Jersey, on $104,940, is $78,161; deflated by the state's price level, $71,784. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $114,950 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Computer Programmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $172,990 |
| This salary | $104,940 |
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 | $78,161 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,655 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$13,274 |
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 | $98,551 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$18,336 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $104,940 as a midpoint for New Jersey, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $65,000 and the ninetieth is $172,990 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Jersey's $78,161, worked from $104,940. 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 89 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $71,784 uses one figure for the whole of New Jersey. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 490 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 89.
- The New Jersey median of $104,940 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $65,000 to $172,990. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The New Jersey take-home of $78,161, on $104,940 for work ranking 89 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 89 of 490 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $71,784, worked from $104,940, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular New Jersey address, on work sitting at 89 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 $114,950, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $65,000 at the bottom tenth to $172,990 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $71,784 rather than its face figure.
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 $78,161.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 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 $114,950. 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 ($65,000) and the ninetieth ($172,990) 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 $71,784 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 $78,161 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.