Technical Writers in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$89,270
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$33,050
27.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$81,987
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
$122,320
Kept after tax
$89,270
Worth in national money
$81,987
State rank
1
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for technical writers is strong here. New Jersey's middle earner gets $122,320, putting the state 1 of 45 — about 35.32% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 490 occupations New Jersey reports, technical writers comes in at 58 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $122,320 the take-home is $89,270. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $81,987 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $116,550, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For technical writers, New Jersey sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $122,320, ranking 1 of 45 and running about 35.32% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Technical writers ranks 58 of 490 occupations by median in New Jersey, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $89,270 for technical writers, from $122,320. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $81,987. ⚠️ 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 $116,550 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Technical Writers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $69,400 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $122,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $163,390 |
| This salary | $122,320 |
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 | $89,270 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $94,872 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$15,643 |
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 | $114,342 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$21,622 |
| 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 technical writers in New Jersey earn under $122,320 and half over. The published range runs $69,400 at the tenth percentile to $163,390 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 $89,270, worked from $122,320. 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 58 of 490.
- Two cautions on $81,987, the adjusted value of that $122,320 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 58 of 490 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for technical writers in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $69,400 to $163,390; 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 $89,270, on $122,320 for work ranking 58 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 58 of 490 in the state.
- This $81,987 adjusted figure, worked from $122,320, 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 58 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 58 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 $116,550, 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 $69,400 at the bottom tenth to $163,390 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $81,987 rather than its face figure.
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, $89,270 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 45 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 $116,550. 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 ($69,400) and the ninetieth ($163,390) 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 $81,987 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 $89,270 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.