Customer Service Representatives in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,449
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$8,291
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,231
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
$47,740
Kept after tax
$39,449
Worth in national money
$36,231
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. New Jersey pays this job a middle wage of $47,740, ranking 9 of 51 states and sitting about 6.63% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in New Jersey, this one sits low: 378 of 490 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $47,740 the take-home is $39,449. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $36,231 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $51,030, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Jersey's median for customer service representatives is $47,740, about 6.63% above the national figure and 9 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Customer service representatives occupies position 378 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $39,449 for customer service representatives, from $47,740. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,231. ⚠️ 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 $51,030 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Customer Service Representatives
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,040 |
| This salary | $47,740 |
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 | $39,449 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,539 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,487 |
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 | $46,384 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,636 |
| 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 $47,740. The published range is $35,520 up to $72,040, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Jersey's $39,449, worked from $47,740. 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 378 of 490.
- Two cautions on $36,231, the adjusted value of that $47,740 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New Jersey. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 378 of 490 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for customer service representatives in New Jersey the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,520 to $72,040. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The New Jersey take-home of $39,449, on $47,740 for work ranking 378 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 378 of 490 in the state.
- This $36,231 adjusted figure, worked from $47,740, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 378 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 378 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 $51,030, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $35,520, the highest tenth $72,040, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $36,231 rather than its face figure.
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, $39,449 remains.
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 $51,030. 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 ($35,520) and the ninetieth ($72,040) 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 $36,231 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 $39,449 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.