Packers and Packagers, Hand in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,531
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$7,309
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,551
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
$43,840
Kept after tax
$36,531
Worth in national money
$33,551
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey is one of the better-paying states for packers and packagers, hand. The middle earner takes $43,840, which ranks 2 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 20.84% above the national middle.
- Within New Jersey this is lower-paid work. Of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, packers and packagers, hand ranks 414. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- New Jersey is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $43,840 the take-home is $36,531; in national-average money that behaves like $33,551. The average lands at $41,750, below the middle of the range.
- New Jersey ranks 2 of 51 states publishing a median for packers and packagers, hand, at $43,840 — about 20.84% 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.
- Against every occupation New Jersey reports, packers and packagers, hand ranks 414 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.
- Take-home for packers and packagers, hand in New Jersey, on $43,840, is $36,531; deflated by the state's price level, $33,551. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $41,750 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Packers and Packagers, Hand
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,310 |
| This salary | $43,840 |
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 | $36,531 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,405 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,942 |
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 | $42,752 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,977 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in New Jersey earn less than $43,840. The published range is $32,220 up to $47,310, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $36,531 take-home in New Jersey comes from $43,840. 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 414 of 490.
- Two cautions on $33,551, the adjusted value of that $43,840 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 414 of 490 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for packers and packagers, hand in New Jersey the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $32,220 to $47,310. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $36,531, from $43,840, 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 414 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 2 of 51 for it.
- This $33,551 adjusted figure, worked from $43,840, 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 414 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 414 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $41,750, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $32,220 at the tenth percentile, $47,310 at the ninetieth.
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 $33,551 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 $36,531.
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 $41,750. 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 ($32,220 to $47,310) 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 $33,551 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 $36,531 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.