Cost Estimators in New Jersey

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,569
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$18,001
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,464
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
$80,570
Kept after tax
$62,569
Worth in national money
$57,464
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey is one of the better-paying states for cost estimators. The middle earner takes $80,570, which ranks 15 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 2.32% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 490 occupations New Jersey reports figures for, this is number 173.
- New Jersey is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $80,570 the take-home is $62,569; in national-average money that behaves like $57,464. The average comes to $89,600, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Jersey ranks 15 of 51 states publishing a median for cost estimators, at $80,570 — about 2.32% 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.
- In New Jersey's occupational distribution, cost estimators sits at 173 of 490 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Take-home for cost estimators in New Jersey, on $80,570, is $62,569; deflated by the state's price level, $57,464. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $89,600 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Cost Estimators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $137,080 |
| This salary | $80,570 |
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 | $62,569 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,511 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,951 |
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 | $76,388 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,746 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $80,570 as a midpoint for New Jersey, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,390 and the ninetieth is $137,080 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $62,569 take-home in New Jersey comes from $80,570. 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 173 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 $57,464, the adjusted value of that $80,570 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 173 of 490 in the state.
- The New Jersey median of $80,570 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,390 to $137,080. 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 $62,569, from $80,570, 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 173 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $57,464 — the adjusted value of that $80,570 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 173 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 $89,600, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $50,390 at the bottom tenth to $137,080 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 $57,464 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 $62,569.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $89,600. 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 ($50,390) and the ninetieth ($137,080) 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 $57,464 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 $62,569 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.