Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,968
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$6,462
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,197
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
$40,430
Kept after tax
$33,968
Worth in national money
$31,197
State rank
13
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. New Jersey pays this job a middle wage of $40,430, ranking 13 of 46 states and sitting about 4.66% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in New Jersey, this one sits low: 431 of 490 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $40,430, tax leaves $33,968 — and because New Jersey is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $31,197 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $43,320, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Jersey's median for switchboard operators, including answering service is $40,430, about 4.66% above the national figure and 13 of 46 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Switchboard operators, including answering service occupies position 431 of 490 in New Jersey's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After tax, $33,968 remains from the New Jersey median of $40,430 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $31,197 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $43,320 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,780 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,890 |
| This salary | $40,430 |
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 | $33,968 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,666 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,477 |
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 | $39,562 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,414 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $40,430 as a midpoint for New Jersey, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,780 and the ninetieth is $51,890 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Jersey's $33,968, worked from $40,430. 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 431 of 490.
- Two cautions on $31,197, the adjusted value of that $40,430 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New Jersey. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 431 of 490 locally.
- The New Jersey median of $40,430 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,780 to $51,890. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The New Jersey take-home of $33,968, on $40,430 for work ranking 431 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 431 of 490 in the state.
- This $31,197 adjusted figure, worked from $40,430, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 431 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 431 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 $43,320, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,780 at the bottom tenth to $51,890 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $31,197 — 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 $33,968.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 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 $43,320. 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 ($35,780 to $51,890) 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 $31,197 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 $33,968 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.