Pharmacy Aides in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,017
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$5,573
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,486
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
$36,590
Kept after tax
$31,017
Worth in national money
$28,486
State rank
28
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. New Jersey is 28 of 48 states for pharmacy aides, with a middle wage of $36,590. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within New Jersey this is lower-paid work. Of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, pharmacy aides ranks 465. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $36,590 the take-home is $31,017. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $28,486 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $39,700, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Jersey ranks 28 of 48 for pharmacy aides at $36,590. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation New Jersey reports, pharmacy aides ranks 465 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 $31,017 for pharmacy aides, from $36,590. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,486. ⚠️ 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 $39,700 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Pharmacy Aides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,280 |
| This salary | $36,590 |
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 | $31,017 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,580 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,012 |
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 | $35,889 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,852 |
| 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 $36,590. The published range is $33,020 up to $50,280, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Jersey's $31,017, worked from $36,590. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 465 of 490.
- Two cautions on $28,486, the adjusted value of that $36,590 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 465 of 490 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for pharmacy aides in New Jersey the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $33,020 to $50,280. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The New Jersey take-home of $31,017, on $36,590 for work ranking 465 of 490 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 465 of 490 in the state.
- This $28,486 adjusted figure, worked from $36,590, 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 465 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 465 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 $39,700, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $33,020 and the top tenth $50,280, 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?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $28,486 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and New Jersey adds its own income tax on top — which is why $31,017 of this wage survives to your account.
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 48 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 $39,700. 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 ($33,020 to $50,280) 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 $28,486 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 $31,017 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.