Dentists, General in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$119,646
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$51,684
30.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$109,885
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
$171,330
Kept after tax
$119,646
Worth in national money
$109,885
State rank
21
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey sits in the middle of the pack for dentists, general. The median is $171,330, ranking 21 of 47 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within New Jersey this is well-paid work. Of 490 occupations with published figures in the state, dentists, general ranks 17 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- New Jersey is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $171,330 the take-home is $119,646; in national-average money that behaves like $109,885. The average comes to $198,290, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Jersey occupies the middle band for dentists, general: a median of $171,330, ranking 21 of 47. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Ranked against every occupation New Jersey publishes a median for, dentists, general sits 17 of 490 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Take-home for dentists, general in New Jersey, on $171,330, is $119,646; deflated by the state's price level, $109,885. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $198,290 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Dentists, General
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $77,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $171,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $349,780 |
| This salary | $171,330 |
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 | $119,646 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $128,370 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$22,217 |
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 | $158,567 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$31,586 |
| 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 $171,330. The published range is $77,920 up to $349,780, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In New Jersey the take-home figure of $119,646, from $171,330, 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 17 of 490 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $109,885, the adjusted value of that $171,330 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 17 of 490 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for dentists, general in New Jersey the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $77,920 to $349,780. 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 $119,646 from $171,330. 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 17 of 490 locally.
- This $109,885 adjusted figure, worked from $171,330, 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 17 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 17 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 $198,290, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $77,920 at the bottom tenth to $349,780 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $109,885 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $119,646 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 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 $198,290. 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 ($77,920) and the ninetieth ($349,780) 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 $109,885 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 $119,646 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.