Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,603
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$17,457
22.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,577
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
$79,060
Kept after tax
$61,603
Worth in national money
$56,577
State rank
17
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. New Jersey is 17 of 45 states for this job, with a middle wage of $79,060. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 490 occupations New Jersey reports figures for, this is number 184.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $79,060, tax leaves $61,603 — and because New Jersey is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $56,577 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $87,900, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Jersey ranks 17 of 45 for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary at $79,060. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In New Jersey's occupational distribution, foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary sits at 184 of 490 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After tax, $61,603 remains from the New Jersey median of $79,060 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $56,577 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $87,900 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $152,430 |
| This salary | $79,060 |
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 | $61,603 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,449 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,745 |
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 | $75,014 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,349 |
| 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 foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in New Jersey earn under $79,060 and half over. The published range runs $32,220 at the tenth percentile to $152,430 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $61,603 take-home in New Jersey comes from $79,060. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 184 of 490.
- Two cautions on $56,577, the adjusted value of that $79,060 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 184 of 490 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,220 to $152,430; 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.
- Retained pay of $61,603, from $79,060, assumes a single New Jersey filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 184 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 17 of 45 for it.
- This $56,577 adjusted figure, worked from $79,060, 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 184 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 184 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $87,900, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $32,220 at the bottom tenth to $152,430 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 $56,577 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $61,603 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $87,900. 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 ($32,220) and the ninetieth ($152,430) 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 $56,577 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 $61,603 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.