Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,426
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$7,274
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,455
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
$43,700
Kept after tax
$36,426
Worth in national money
$33,455
State rank
10
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. New Jersey's middle earner gets $43,700, putting the state 10 of 50 — about 11.25% ahead of the national figure.
- Within New Jersey this is lower-paid work. Of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 417. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $43,700 the take-home is $36,426. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $33,455 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $45,950, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service, New Jersey sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $43,700, ranking 10 of 50 and running about 11.25% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Against every occupation New Jersey reports, mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service ranks 417 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $36,426 for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service, from $43,700. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $33,455. ⚠️ 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 $45,950 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,510 |
| This salary | $43,700 |
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 | $36,426 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,293 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,923 |
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 | $42,621 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,953 |
| 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 mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service in New Jersey earn under $43,700 and half over. The published range runs $37,040 at the tenth percentile to $61,510 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In New Jersey the take-home figure of $36,426, from $43,700, 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 417 of 490 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $33,455, the adjusted value of that $43,700 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 417 of 490 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,040 to $61,510; 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.
- Take-home for New Jersey is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $36,426 from $43,700. 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 417 of 490 locally.
- This $33,455 adjusted figure, worked from $43,700, 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 417 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 417 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 $45,950 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,040 and the top tenth $61,510, so most people doing this work in New Jersey sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $33,455 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $36,426 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 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 $45,950. 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 ($37,040 to $61,510) 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 $33,455 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 $36,426 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.