Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,166
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$25,094
25.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$69,034
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
$100,260
Kept after tax
$75,166
Worth in national money
$69,034
State rank
14
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $100,260, which ranks 14 of 45 states with published figures. That is about 2.23% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in New Jersey. It ranks 105 out of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $100,260, tax leaves $75,166 — and because New Jersey is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $69,034 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $101,590, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Jersey ranks 14 of 45 states publishing a median for political science teachers, postsecondary, at $100,260 — about 2.23% 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.
- Within New Jersey, political science teachers, postsecondary ranks 105 of 490 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After tax, $75,166 remains from the New Jersey median of $100,260 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $69,034 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $101,590 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $100,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $171,420 |
| This salary | $100,260 |
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 | $75,166 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,363 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,636 |
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 | $94,295 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$17,454 |
| 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 political science teachers, postsecondary in New Jersey earn under $100,260 and half over. The published range runs $32,220 at the tenth percentile to $171,420 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $75,166 take-home in New Jersey comes from $100,260. 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 105 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $69,034 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 105.
- Figures are distribution medians for political science teachers, postsecondary in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,220 to $171,420; 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 $75,166, from $100,260, 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 105 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 14 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $69,034, worked from $100,260, 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 105 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $32,220, the highest tenth $171,420, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $69,034 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 $75,166.
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 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($32,220) and the ninetieth ($171,420) 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 $69,034 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 $75,166 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.