Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,335
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$8,925
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,963
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
$50,260
Kept after tax
$41,335
Worth in national money
$37,963
State rank
10
of 51 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 $50,260, which ranks 10 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 5.72% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 356 among 490 occupations New Jersey publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $50,260 the take-home is $41,335. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $37,963 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $52,910, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Jersey ranks 10 of 51 states publishing a median for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, at $50,260 — about 5.72% 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.
- Position 356 of 490 in New Jersey places secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $41,335 for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, from $50,260. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $37,963. ⚠️ 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 $52,910 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,180 |
| This salary | $50,260 |
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 | $41,335 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,564 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,839 |
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 | $48,730 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,061 |
| 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 secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive in New Jersey earn under $50,260 and half over. The published range runs $36,150 at the tenth percentile to $72,180 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In New Jersey the take-home figure of $41,335, from $50,260, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 356 of 490 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,963 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 356.
- Figures are distribution medians for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,150 to $72,180; 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.
- Take-home for New Jersey is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $41,335 from $50,260. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 356 of 490 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,963, worked from $50,260, 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 356 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 $52,910 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 $36,150 and the top tenth $72,180, 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?
The number and the value are different things. New Jersey costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $37,963 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and New Jersey's own levy, $41,335 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $52,910. 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 ($36,150 to $72,180) 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 $37,963 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 $41,335 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.