Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,863
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$5,527
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,345
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
$36,390
Kept after tax
$30,863
Worth in national money
$28,345
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey is one of the better-paying states for food servers, nonrestaurant. The middle earner takes $36,390, which ranks 15 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 2.91% above the national middle.
- Against 490 occupations New Jersey publishes, food servers, nonrestaurant lands at 468. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- New Jersey is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $36,390 the take-home is $30,863; in national-average money that behaves like $28,345. The average comes to $37,180, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Jersey ranks 15 of 51 states publishing a median for food servers, nonrestaurant, at $36,390 — about 2.91% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within New Jersey, this work ranks 468 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.
- Take-home for food servers, nonrestaurant in New Jersey, on $36,390, is $30,863; deflated by the state's price level, $28,345. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $37,180 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $43,800 |
| This salary | $36,390 |
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 | $30,863 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,419 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,987 |
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 | $35,698 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,822 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of food servers, nonrestaurant in New Jersey earn under $36,390 and half over. The published range runs $32,220 at the tenth percentile to $43,800 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In New Jersey the take-home figure of $30,863, from $36,390, 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 468 of 490 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $28,345, the adjusted value of that $36,390 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 468 of 490 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for food servers, nonrestaurant in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,220 to $43,800; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for New Jersey is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $30,863 from $36,390. 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 468 of 490 locally.
- This $28,345 adjusted figure, worked from $36,390, 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 468 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 468 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $32,220 at the tenth percentile, $43,800 at the ninetieth.
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 $28,345 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 $30,863 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,220 to $43,800) 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 $28,345 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 $30,863 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.