Average salary in New Jersey: $78,040 a year
The mean annual wage across every job BLS counts in New Jersey, with the median, the pay spread, the job groups and the occupations behind it.
The average salary in New Jersey is $78,040 a year ($37.52 an hour): that is the mean annual wage across 4,285,720 jobs in the BLS May 2025 survey. The median is $58,570 ($28.16 an hour), so half of those jobs paid less and half paid more. The mean sits above the median because a smaller number of very high wages pulls it up.
How New Jersey compares with the United States
New Jersey's mean salary is $8,270 (11.9%) above the U.S. figure of $69,770; its median is $7,590 (14.9%) above the U.S. figure of $50,980. Among the 50 states and DC, New Jersey ranks 6th by mean salary and 9th by median salary (1 = highest; calculated from the BLS figures).
| Measure | New Jersey | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Mean (average) salary | $78,040 | $69,770 |
| Median salary | $58,570 | $50,980 |
| Mean hourly wage | $37.52 | $33.54 |
| Median hourly wage | $28.16 | $24.51 |
| Jobs counted | 4,285,720 | 155,495,730 |
Prices matter as much as pay. BEA's regional price parity for New Jersey in 2024 is 108.8, where the United States = 100: overall prices there were about 8.8% above the national price level. A salary goes further where the index is lower.
What jobs in New Jersey pay, from low to high
One job in ten in New Jersey paid less than $34,450 a year, and one in ten paid more than $142,750. A quarter paid less than $39,400; a quarter paid more than $96,720.
| Area | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | $34,450 | $39,400 | $58,570 | $96,720 | $142,750 |
| United States | $31,200 | $37,590 | $50,980 | $80,520 | $128,560 |
Pay by job group in New Jersey
The largest group in New Jersey is office and administrative support, with 536,650 jobs (13% of the total, calculated). The best-paid group by median is management ($166,690); the lowest-paid is food preparation and serving related ($36,480). Where BLS does not release a figure, the table says so.
| Job group | Jobs | Median salary | Mean (average) salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office and Administrative Support | 536,650 | $50,800 | $56,140 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | 454,140 | $44,740 | $52,160 |
| Sales and Related | 362,000 | $45,520 | $63,980 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | 316,810 | $36,480 | $42,450 |
| Management | 316,140 | $166,690 | $181,060 |
| Educational Instruction and Library | 298,920 | $65,270 | $71,670 |
| Business and Financial Operations | 287,050 | $98,100 | $106,790 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | 284,830 | $102,650 | $116,690 |
| Healthcare Support | 208,870 | $43,220 | $43,620 |
| Production | 172,800 | $46,500 | $52,440 |
| Computer and Mathematical | 154,820 | $123,900 | $125,030 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 141,990 | $63,290 | $69,200 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | 129,560 | $38,870 | $43,230 |
| Construction and Extraction | 126,280 | $73,470 | $80,460 |
| Protective Service | 122,610 | $54,480 | $69,580 |
| Personal Care and Service | 119,240 | $36,820 | $44,920 |
| Community and Social Service | 73,130 | $63,230 | $70,040 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | 48,470 | $74,390 | $85,390 |
| Architecture and Engineering | 48,430 | $103,230 | $111,870 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | 41,540 | $90,180 | $100,900 |
| Legal | 38,190 | $114,270 | $143,410 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | 3,240 | $38,940 | $43,210 |
The occupations with the most jobs in New Jersey
11 of the 12 largest occupations in New Jersey with a published annual median paid a median below the all-jobs median of $58,570 (calculated from the BLS figures).
| Occupation | Jobs | Median salary |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 117,080 | $37,090 |
| Cashiers | 107,680 | $34,590 |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 97,230 | $39,540 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 93,730 | $34,150 |
| Registered Nurses | 92,680 | $106,500 |
| Retail Salespersons | 72,530 | $36,520 |
| Packers and Packagers, Hand | 71,260 | $43,840 |
| Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners | 67,660 | $37,630 |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 65,960 | $50,260 |
| Office Clerks, General | 65,130 | $48,570 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 64,070 | $37,250 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 59,690 | $47,740 |
Go deeper
The best-paid occupations, ranked.
Open →Pay floorNew Jersey minimum wageThe state's hourly floor.
Open →PricesCost of living in New JerseyWhat a salary buys there.
Open →Between jobsNew Jersey unemployment benefitsThe weekly maximum and weeks payable.
Open →MetroAverage salary in New York CityPay in the metro area.
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Questions people ask
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How this page is built
Every pay figure is a BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 estimate for all occupations in New Jersey (occupation code 00-0000), copied from BLS's data file; the job-group and occupation rows come from the same file. The average is BLS's mean wage (total wages divided by jobs); the median is the wage in the middle. OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay: they include commissions, tips, production bonuses and cost-of-living allowances, and leave out overtime premiums, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and benefits. BLS turns hourly wages into annual ones at 2,080 hours (40 hours for 52 weeks). Ranks, differences and shares are TryHired calculations from the BLS figures. Price levels are BEA Regional Price Parities.
- Household income: this page reports pay per job, not household or family income, which the Census Bureau measures differently.
- Starting pay: the figures include experienced workers. Entry-level pay is usually lower.
- Take-home pay: every figure is before taxes and deductions.
- Self-employment and farm work: not covered by OEWS (see the FAQ).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates: national, state and metropolitan-area data files (public domain).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS technical notes: what the survey counts as wages and jobs.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024 (released Feb 19, 2026).