Curators in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,796
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$17,004
21.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,836
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
$77,800
Kept after tax
$60,796
Worth in national money
$55,836
State rank
6
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. New Jersey pays curators a middle wage of $77,800, ranking 6 of 49 states and sitting about 22.67% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Curators ranks 199 among 490 occupations New Jersey publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $77,800 the take-home is $60,796. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $55,836 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $77,880, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Jersey's median for curators is $77,800, about 22.67% above the national figure and 6 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 199 of 490 in New Jersey places curators 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $60,796 for curators, from $77,800. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $55,836. ⚠️ 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 $77,880 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Curators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,870 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,800 |
| Top tenth earn over | $114,880 |
| This salary | $77,800 |
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 | $60,796 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,562 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,574 |
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 | $73,868 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,985 |
| 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 curators in New Jersey earn under $77,800 and half over. The published range runs $48,870 at the tenth percentile to $114,880 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $60,796 take-home in New Jersey comes from $77,800. 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 199 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 $55,836, the adjusted value of that $77,800 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 199 of 490 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for curators in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,870 to $114,880; 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 $60,796, from $77,800, 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 199 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $55,836 — the adjusted value of that $77,800 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 199 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $48,870 and the top tenth $114,880 — 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 $55,836 — 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 $60,796 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($48,870) and the ninetieth ($114,880) 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 $55,836 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 $60,796 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.