Surveyors in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,387
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$16,773
21.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,460
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
$77,160
Kept after tax
$60,387
Worth in national money
$55,460
State rank
20
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. New Jersey is 20 of 50 states for surveyors, with a middle wage of $77,160. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 490 occupations New Jersey reports figures for, this is number 205.
- New Jersey is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $77,160 the take-home is $60,387; in national-average money that behaves like $55,460. The average comes to $86,060, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Jersey ranks 20 of 50 for surveyors at $77,160. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In New Jersey's occupational distribution, surveyors sits at 205 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.
- Take-home for surveyors in New Jersey, on $77,160, is $60,387; deflated by the state's price level, $55,460. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $86,060 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Surveyors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $132,930 |
| This salary | $77,160 |
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 | $60,387 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,112 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,486 |
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 | $73,286 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,800 |
| 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 surveyors in New Jersey earn under $77,160 and half over. The published range runs $58,240 at the tenth percentile to $132,930 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 $60,387, worked from $77,160. 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 205 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,460 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 205.
- Figures are distribution medians for surveyors in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $58,240 to $132,930; 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 $60,387, on $77,160 for work ranking 205 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 205 of 490 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,460, worked from $77,160, 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 205 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $86,060, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $58,240 at the bottom tenth to $132,930 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $55,460 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $60,387 remains.
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 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $86,060. 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 ($58,240) and the ninetieth ($132,930) 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 $55,460 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 $60,387 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.