Food Batchmakers in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,293
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$5,957
15.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,658
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
$38,250
Kept after tax
$32,293
Worth in national money
$29,658
State rank
36
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food batchmakers is on the low side in New Jersey. The middle earner gets $38,250. That is 36 of 50 states, and about 9.55% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 490 occupations New Jersey publishes, food batchmakers lands at 449. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $38,250 the take-home is $32,293. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $29,658 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $42,310, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For food batchmakers, New Jersey sits in the lower band at $38,250, ranking 36 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 9.55%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within New Jersey, this work ranks 449 of 490 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $32,293 for food batchmakers, from $38,250. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $29,658. ⚠️ 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 $42,310 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Batchmakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,440 |
| This salary | $38,250 |
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 | $32,293 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,914 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,213 |
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 | $37,477 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,095 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $38,250 as a midpoint for New Jersey, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,350 and the ninetieth is $56,440 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In New Jersey the take-home figure of $32,293, from $38,250, 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 449 of 490 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $29,658, the adjusted value of that $38,250 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 449 of 490 locally.
- The New Jersey median of $38,250 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,350 to $56,440. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for New Jersey is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,293 from $38,250. 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 449 of 490 locally.
- This $29,658 adjusted figure, worked from $38,250, 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 449 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 449 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 $42,310, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $32,350 and the top tenth $56,440, so most people doing this work in New Jersey sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $29,658 rather than its face figure.
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 $32,293.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $42,310. 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 ($32,350 to $56,440) 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 $29,658 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 $32,293 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.