Education Administrators, Postsecondary in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$95,003
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$36,567
27.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$87,252
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
$131,570
Kept after tax
$95,003
Worth in national money
$87,252
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. New Jersey's middle earner gets $131,570, putting the state 2 of 51 — about 25.8% ahead of the national figure.
- Within New Jersey this is well-paid work. Of 490 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 43 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $131,570 the take-home is $95,003. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $87,252 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $148,340, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For education administrators, postsecondary, New Jersey sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $131,570, ranking 2 of 51 and running about 25.8% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Ranked against every occupation New Jersey publishes a median for, education administrators, postsecondary sits 43 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $95,003 for education administrators, postsecondary, from $131,570. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $87,252. ⚠️ 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 $148,340 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: Education Administrators, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $84,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $131,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $224,550 |
| This salary | $131,570 |
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 | $95,003 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $101,194 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$16,884 |
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 | $122,512 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$23,599 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $131,570 as a midpoint for New Jersey, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $84,060 and the ninetieth is $224,550 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Jersey's $95,003, worked from $131,570. 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 43 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 $87,252, the adjusted value of that $131,570 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 43 of 490 in the state.
- The New Jersey median of $131,570 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $84,060 to $224,550. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The New Jersey take-home of $95,003, on $131,570 for work ranking 43 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 43 of 490 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $87,252 — the adjusted value of that $131,570 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 43 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 $148,340, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $84,060 and the top tenth $224,550 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $87,252 of national purchasing power.
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 $95,003 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 $148,340. 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 ($84,060) and the ninetieth ($224,550) 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 $87,252 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 $95,003 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.