Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,709
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$18,081
22.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,593
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
$80,790
Kept after tax
$62,709
Worth in national money
$57,593
State rank
20
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Jersey sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $80,790, ranking 20 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 490 occupations New Jersey reports figures for, this is number 170.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $80,790, tax leaves $62,709 — and because New Jersey is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $57,593 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $95,070, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Jersey occupies the middle band for psychology teachers, postsecondary: a median of $80,790, ranking 20 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In New Jersey's occupational distribution, psychology teachers, postsecondary sits at 170 of 490 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After tax, $62,709 remains from the New Jersey median of $80,790 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $57,593 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $95,070 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,730 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $163,560 |
| This salary | $80,790 |
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 | $62,709 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,666 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,981 |
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 | $76,588 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,787 |
| 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 psychology teachers, postsecondary in New Jersey earn under $80,790 and half over. The published range runs $32,730 at the tenth percentile to $163,560 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $62,709 take-home in New Jersey comes from $80,790. 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 170 of 490.
- One number stands for prices across all of New Jersey, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $57,593, the adjusted value of that $80,790 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 170 of 490 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for psychology teachers, postsecondary in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,730 to $163,560; 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 $62,709, from $80,790, 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 170 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $57,593 — the adjusted value of that $80,790 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 170 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 $95,070, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $32,730 at the bottom tenth to $163,560 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $57,593 rather than its face figure.
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 $62,709 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $95,070. 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 ($32,730) and the ninetieth ($163,560) 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 $57,593 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 $62,709 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.