Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,254
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$5,946
15.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,623
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
$38,200
Kept after tax
$32,254
Worth in national money
$29,623
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. New Jersey pays this job around $38,200 at the midpoint, 31 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 490 occupations New Jersey publishes, this job lands at 450. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $38,200 the take-home is $32,254. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $29,623 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $42,890, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For merchandise displayers and window trimmers the New Jersey median is $38,200, ranking 31 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within New Jersey, this work ranks 450 of 490 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $32,254 for merchandise displayers and window trimmers, from $38,200. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $29,623. ⚠️ 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 $42,890 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,190 |
| This salary | $38,200 |
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 | $32,254 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,874 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,207 |
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 | $37,429 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,087 |
| 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 merchandise displayers and window trimmers in New Jersey earn under $38,200 and half over. The published range runs $33,160 at the tenth percentile to $57,190 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $32,254 take-home in New Jersey comes from $38,200. 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 450 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,623 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 450.
- Figures are distribution medians for merchandise displayers and window trimmers in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,160 to $57,190; 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 $32,254, from $38,200, 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 450 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 31 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,623, worked from $38,200, 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 450 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 $42,890 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 $33,160 and the top tenth $57,190, 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 $29,623 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $32,254.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $42,890. 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 ($33,160 to $57,190) 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 $29,623 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 $32,254 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.