Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,484
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$15,726
21.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,713
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
$74,210
Kept after tax
$58,484
Worth in national money
$53,713
State rank
11
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $74,210, which ranks 11 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 18.4% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 490 occupations New Jersey reports figures for, this is number 228.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $74,210, tax leaves $58,484 — and because New Jersey is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $53,713 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $78,110, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Jersey ranks 11 of 50 states publishing a median for kindergarten teachers, except special education, at $74,210 — about 18.4% 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.
- In New Jersey's occupational distribution, kindergarten teachers, except special education sits at 228 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, $58,484 remains from the New Jersey median of $74,210 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $53,713 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $78,110 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $74,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,870 |
| This salary | $74,210 |
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 | $58,484 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,037 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,098 |
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 | $70,582 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,963 |
| 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 kindergarten teachers, except special education in New Jersey earn under $74,210 and half over. The published range runs $60,040 at the tenth percentile to $102,870 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $58,484 take-home in New Jersey comes from $74,210. 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 228 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $53,713 uses one figure for the whole of New Jersey. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 490 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 228.
- Figures are distribution medians for kindergarten teachers, except special education in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $60,040 to $102,870; 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 $58,484, from $74,210, 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 228 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 11 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $53,713, worked from $74,210, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular New Jersey address, on work sitting at 228 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 $78,110, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $60,040 at the bottom tenth to $102,870 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $53,713 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and New Jersey's own levy, $58,484 remains.
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 50 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 $78,110. 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 ($60,040 to $102,870) 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 $53,713 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 $58,484 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.