Massage Therapists in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,252
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$8,898
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,887
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
$50,150
Kept after tax
$41,252
Worth in national money
$37,887
State rank
39
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey is among the lower-paying states for massage therapists. The middle earner takes $50,150, ranking 39 of 50 states — about 14.2% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Massage therapists ranks 358 among 490 occupations New Jersey publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $50,150 the take-home is $41,252. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $37,887 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $53,420, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Jersey ranks 39 of 50 for massage therapists, with a median of $50,150 — about 14.2% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 358 of 490 in New Jersey places massage therapists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $41,252 for massage therapists, from $50,150. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $37,887. ⚠️ 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 $53,420 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: Massage Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,930 |
| This salary | $50,150 |
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 | $41,252 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,476 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,823 |
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 | $48,628 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,043 |
| 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 massage therapists in New Jersey earn under $50,150 and half over. The published range runs $33,280 at the tenth percentile to $81,930 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $41,252 take-home in New Jersey comes from $50,150. 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 358 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,887 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 358.
- Figures are distribution medians for massage therapists in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,280 to $81,930; 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 $41,252, from $50,150, 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 358 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,887, worked from $50,150, 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 358 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 $53,420, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $33,280 and the top tenth $81,930 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $37,887 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, $41,252 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 $53,420. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($33,280) and the ninetieth ($81,930) 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 $37,887 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 $41,252 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.