Social Workers, All Other in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,054
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$16,586
21.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,155
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
$76,640
Kept after tax
$60,054
Worth in national money
$55,155
State rank
26
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. New Jersey pays social workers, all other around $76,640 at the midpoint, 26 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in New Jersey, this sits in the middle: 211 of 490 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $76,640 the take-home is $60,054. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $55,155 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $77,550, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For social workers, all other the New Jersey median is $76,640, ranking 26 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Social workers, all other ranks 211 of 490 occupations in New Jersey by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $60,054 for social workers, all other, from $76,640. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $55,155. ⚠️ 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 $77,550 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $114,880 |
| This salary | $76,640 |
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 | $60,054 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,746 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,416 |
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 | $72,813 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,649 |
| 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 social workers, all other in New Jersey earn under $76,640 and half over. The published range runs $42,710 at the tenth percentile to $114,880 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $60,054 take-home in New Jersey comes from $76,640. 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 211 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,155 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 211.
- Figures are distribution medians for social workers, all other in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,710 to $114,880; 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 $60,054, from $76,640, 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 211 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 26 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,155, worked from $76,640, 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 211 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $42,710 and the top tenth $114,880 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in New Jersey run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $55,155 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $60,054.
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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($42,710) and the ninetieth ($114,880) 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 $55,155 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 $60,054 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.