Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,602
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$5,448
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,105
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
$36,050
Kept after tax
$30,602
Worth in national money
$28,105
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. New Jersey is 18 of 51 states for laundry and dry-cleaning workers, with a middle wage of $36,050. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within New Jersey this is lower-paid work. Of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, laundry and dry-cleaning workers ranks 474. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $36,050, tax leaves $30,602 — and because New Jersey is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $28,105 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $36,460, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Jersey ranks 18 of 51 for laundry and dry-cleaning workers at $36,050. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation New Jersey reports, laundry and dry-cleaning workers ranks 474 of 490, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After tax, $30,602 remains from the New Jersey median of $36,050 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $28,105 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $36,460 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $40,770 |
| This salary | $36,050 |
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 | $30,602 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,146 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,946 |
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 | $35,373 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,773 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,050 as a midpoint for New Jersey, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,220 and the ninetieth is $40,770 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In New Jersey the take-home figure of $30,602, from $36,050, 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 474 of 490 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of New Jersey, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $28,105, the adjusted value of that $36,050 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 474 of 490 in the state.
- The New Jersey median of $36,050 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,220 to $40,770. 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 $30,602 from $36,050. 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 474 of 490 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $28,105 — the adjusted value of that $36,050 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 474 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $32,220 at the bottom tenth to $40,770 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $28,105 — 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 $30,602 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,220 to $40,770) 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 $28,105 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 $30,602 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.