Special Education Teachers, Middle School in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,635
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$17,475
22.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,606
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
$79,110
Kept after tax
$61,635
Worth in national money
$56,606
State rank
9
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 $79,110, which ranks 9 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 18.41% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 490 occupations New Jersey reports figures for, this is number 183.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $79,110, tax leaves $61,635 — and because New Jersey is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $56,606 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $82,680, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Jersey ranks 9 of 51 states publishing a median for special education teachers, middle school, at $79,110 — about 18.41% 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.
- In New Jersey's occupational distribution, special education teachers, middle school sits at 183 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, $61,635 remains from the New Jersey median of $79,110 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $56,606 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $82,680 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Middle School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,520 |
| This salary | $79,110 |
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 | $61,635 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,484 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,752 |
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 | $75,060 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,364 |
| 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 special education teachers, middle school in New Jersey earn under $79,110 and half over. The published range runs $63,570 at the tenth percentile to $103,520 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Jersey's $61,635, worked from $79,110. 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 183 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 $56,606, the adjusted value of that $79,110 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 183 of 490 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for special education teachers, middle school in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $63,570 to $103,520; 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.
- The New Jersey take-home of $61,635, on $79,110 for work ranking 183 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 183 of 490 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $56,606 — the adjusted value of that $79,110 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 183 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 $82,680 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $63,570 at the bottom tenth to $103,520 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $56,606 rather than its face figure.
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 $61,635.
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 $82,680. 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 ($63,570 to $103,520) 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 $56,606 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 $61,635 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.