Locksmiths and Safe Repairers in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,378
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$10,622
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,594
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
$57,000
Kept after tax
$46,378
Worth in national money
$42,594
State rank
14
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey is one of the better-paying states for locksmiths and safe repairers. The middle earner takes $57,000, which ranks 14 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 11.07% above the national middle.
- Against other work in New Jersey, this sits in the middle: 314 of 490 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $57,000 the take-home is $46,378. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $42,594 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $59,420, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Jersey ranks 14 of 48 states publishing a median for locksmiths and safe repairers, at $57,000 — about 11.07% 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.
- Locksmiths and safe repairers ranks 314 of 490 occupations in New Jersey by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $46,378 for locksmiths and safe repairers, from $57,000. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,594. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $59,420 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Locksmiths and Safe Repairers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,770 |
| This salary | $57,000 |
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 | $46,378 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,980 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,780 |
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 | $55,007 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,200 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $57,000 as a midpoint for New Jersey, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,220 and the ninetieth is $79,770 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $46,378 take-home in New Jersey comes from $57,000. 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 314 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 $42,594, the adjusted value of that $57,000 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 314 of 490 in the state.
- The New Jersey median of $57,000 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,220 to $79,770. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $46,378, from $57,000, 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 314 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 14 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $42,594 — the adjusted value of that $57,000 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 314 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 $59,420, 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 $46,220 at the bottom tenth to $79,770 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $42,594 of national purchasing power.
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 $46,378.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $59,420. 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 ($46,220 to $79,770) 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 $42,594 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 $46,378 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.