Couriers and Messengers in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,306
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$6,564
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,507
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
$40,870
Kept after tax
$34,306
Worth in national money
$31,507
State rank
14
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey is one of the better-paying states for couriers and messengers. The middle earner takes $40,870, which ranks 14 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 4.26% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in New Jersey, this one sits low: 427 of 490 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- New Jersey is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $40,870 the take-home is $34,306; in national-average money that behaves like $31,507. The average comes to $42,600, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Jersey ranks 14 of 51 states publishing a median for couriers and messengers, at $40,870 — about 4.26% 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.
- Couriers and messengers occupies position 427 of 490 in New Jersey's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Take-home for couriers and messengers in New Jersey, on $40,870, is $34,306; deflated by the state's price level, $31,507. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $42,600 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Couriers and Messengers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,590 |
| This salary | $40,870 |
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 | $34,306 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,019 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,530 |
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 | $39,983 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,478 |
| 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 couriers and messengers in New Jersey earn under $40,870 and half over. The published range runs $34,150 at the tenth percentile to $51,590 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $34,306 take-home in New Jersey comes from $40,870. 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 427 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 $31,507, the adjusted value of that $40,870 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 427 of 490 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for couriers and messengers in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,150 to $51,590; 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 $34,306, from $40,870, 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 427 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 14 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $31,507 — the adjusted value of that $40,870 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 427 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 $42,600, 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?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $34,150 at the tenth percentile, $51,590 at the ninetieth.
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 $31,507 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and New Jersey adds its own income tax on top — which is why $34,306 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $42,600. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,150 to $51,590) 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 $31,507 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 $34,306 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.