Tour and Travel Guides in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,055
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$5,585
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,522
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
$36,640
Kept after tax
$31,055
Worth in national money
$28,522
State rank
27
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. New Jersey is 27 of 50 states for tour and travel guides, with a middle wage of $36,640. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within New Jersey this is lower-paid work. Of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, tour and travel guides ranks 464. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $36,640 the take-home is $31,055. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $28,522 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $46,570, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Jersey ranks 27 of 50 for tour and travel guides at $36,640. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation New Jersey reports, tour and travel guides ranks 464 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 $31,055 for tour and travel guides, from $36,640. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,522. ⚠️ 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 $46,570 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Tour and Travel Guides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,800 |
| This salary | $36,640 |
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 | $31,055 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,620 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,018 |
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 | $35,937 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,859 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in New Jersey earn less than $36,640. The published range is $32,220 up to $80,800, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $31,055 take-home in New Jersey comes from $36,640. 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 464 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,522 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 464.
- Reported values are medians; for tour and travel guides in New Jersey the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $32,220 to $80,800. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $31,055, from $36,640, 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 464 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,522, worked from $36,640, 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 464 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 $46,570, 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 $32,220 at the bottom tenth to $80,800 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $28,522 of national purchasing power.
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, $31,055 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 $46,570. 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 ($32,220) and the ninetieth ($80,800) 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 $28,522 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 $31,055 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.