Highway Maintenance Workers in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,427
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$9,293
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,966
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
$51,720
Kept after tax
$42,427
Worth in national money
$38,966
State rank
20
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. New Jersey pays highway maintenance workers around $51,720 at the midpoint, 20 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 490 occupations New Jersey reports figures for, this is number 348.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $51,720, tax leaves $42,427 — and because New Jersey is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $38,966 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $56,570, since top earners drag the number up.
- For highway maintenance workers the New Jersey median is $51,720, ranking 20 of 49 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In New Jersey's occupational distribution, highway maintenance workers sits at 348 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, $42,427 remains from the New Jersey median of $51,720 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $38,966 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $56,570 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Highway Maintenance Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,360 |
| This salary | $51,720 |
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 | $42,427 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,737 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,043 |
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 | $50,090 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,308 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $51,720 as a midpoint for New Jersey, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,810 and the ninetieth is $80,360 — 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 $42,427, worked from $51,720. 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 348 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 $38,966, the adjusted value of that $51,720 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 348 of 490 in the state.
- The New Jersey median of $51,720 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,810 to $80,360. 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 $42,427, on $51,720 for work ranking 348 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 348 of 490 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $38,966 — the adjusted value of that $51,720 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 348 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $56,570 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,810 at the bottom tenth to $80,360 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 $38,966 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $42,427.
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 49 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 $56,570. 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 ($36,810) and the ninetieth ($80,360) 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 $38,966 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 $42,427 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.