Dental Assistants in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,684
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$8,706
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,365
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
$49,390
Kept after tax
$40,684
Worth in national money
$37,365
State rank
15
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. New Jersey pays dental assistants a middle wage of $49,390, ranking 15 of 50 states and sitting about 2.75% above the national middle.
- Against other work in New Jersey, this sits in the middle: 363 of 490 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- New Jersey is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $49,390 the take-home is $40,684; in national-average money that behaves like $37,365. The average comes to $52,940, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Jersey's median for dental assistants is $49,390, about 2.75% above the national figure and 15 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Dental assistants ranks 363 of 490 occupations in New Jersey by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Take-home for dental assistants in New Jersey, on $49,390, is $40,684; deflated by the state's price level, $37,365. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $52,940 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dental Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,200 |
| This salary | $49,390 |
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 | $40,684 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,865 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,717 |
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 | $47,920 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,914 |
| 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 $49,390. The published range is $38,660 up to $64,200, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In New Jersey the take-home figure of $40,684, from $49,390, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 363 of 490 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of New Jersey, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,365, the adjusted value of that $49,390 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 363 of 490 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for dental assistants in New Jersey the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,660 to $64,200. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for New Jersey is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $40,684 from $49,390. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 363 of 490 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $37,365 — the adjusted value of that $49,390 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 363 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $52,940 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,660 at the tenth percentile, $64,200 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 $37,365 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $40,684.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $52,940. 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 ($38,660 to $64,200) 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 $37,365 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 $40,684 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.