Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,555
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$5,735
15.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,981
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
$37,290
Kept after tax
$31,555
Worth in national money
$28,981
State rank
16
of 51 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 $37,290, ranking 16 of 51 states and sitting about 1.39% above the national middle.
- Within New Jersey this is lower-paid work. Of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 457. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $37,290 the take-home is $31,555. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $28,981 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $40,280, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Jersey's median for teaching assistants, except postsecondary is $37,290, about 1.39% above the national figure and 16 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation New Jersey reports, teaching assistants, except postsecondary ranks 457 of 490, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $31,555 for teaching assistants, except postsecondary, from $37,290. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,981. ⚠️ 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 $40,280 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,580 |
| This salary | $37,290 |
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 | $31,555 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,143 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,096 |
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 | $36,559 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,954 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,290 as a midpoint for New Jersey, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,220 and the ninetieth is $49,580 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $31,555 take-home in New Jersey comes from $37,290. 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 457 of 490.
- Two cautions on $28,981, the adjusted value of that $37,290 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 457 of 490 locally.
- The New Jersey median of $37,290 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,220 to $49,580. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $31,555, from $37,290, 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 457 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
- This $28,981 adjusted figure, worked from $37,290, 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 457 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 457 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 $40,280 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 $32,220 and the top tenth $49,580, 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?
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 $28,981 — 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 $31,555.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $40,280. 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 ($32,220 to $49,580) 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 $28,981 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 $31,555 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.