Conservation Scientists in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,631
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$12,389
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,419
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
$64,020
Kept after tax
$51,631
Worth in national money
$47,419
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey is among the lower-paying states for conservation scientists. The middle earner takes $64,020, ranking 43 of 51 states — about 12.31% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Conservation scientists ranks 261 among 490 occupations New Jersey publishes pay for.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $64,020, tax leaves $51,631 — and because New Jersey is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $47,419 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $69,610, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Jersey ranks 43 of 51 for conservation scientists, with a median of $64,020 — about 12.31% 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 261 of 490 in New Jersey places conservation scientists 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.
- After tax, $51,631 remains from the New Jersey median of $64,020 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $47,419 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $69,610 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Conservation Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $107,240 |
| This salary | $64,020 |
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 | $51,631 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,620 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,760 |
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 | $61,544 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,385 |
| 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 $64,020. The published range is $50,340 up to $107,240, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $51,631 take-home in New Jersey comes from $64,020. 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 261 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 $47,419, the adjusted value of that $64,020 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 261 of 490 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for conservation scientists in New Jersey the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,340 to $107,240. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $51,631, from $64,020, 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 261 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $47,419 — the adjusted value of that $64,020 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 261 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 $69,610, 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 $50,340 and the top tenth $107,240 — 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 $47,419 — 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, $51,631 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 $69,610. 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 ($50,340) and the ninetieth ($107,240) 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 $47,419 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 $51,631 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.