Introduction
The New Jersey Paycheck Calculator shows you how much money you actually take home from each paycheck. You enter your pay and a few details, and it calculates your paycheck.
Your gross pay is not what lands in your bank account. Taxes and deductions come out first. This tool subtracts federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, New Jersey state income tax, and New Jersey payroll taxes like TDI, FLI, and SUI. It also handles pre-tax items such as health insurance and a 401(k), plus post-tax items like Roth 401(k) or union dues.
It works for salary or hourly jobs, any pay schedule, and overtime. You can also switch to an employer view to see the full cost of an employee, including FUTA, employer SUI, and workers' comp.
Every result comes with a clear breakdown, a chart, and a step-by-step solution so you can see exactly where each dollar goes. Use it to check a pay stub, plan a budget, or compare a job offer in New Jersey.
How to use our NJ Paycheck Calculator
Enter your pay, your W-4 and NJ-W4 info, and any deductions. The calculator shows your take-home pay for each paycheck, plus a full breakdown of federal tax, FICA, New Jersey tax, and deductions.
Pay Type: Pick Salary if you earn a set yearly amount. Pick Hourly if you get paid by the hour.
Pay Frequency: Choose how often you get paid, like weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.
Check Date: Enter your pay date. This sets which tax year rates are used.
Year-to-Date Gross Wages: Enter the total pay you got this year before this check. Type 0 if this is your first check. This checks if you hit a wage cap.
Gross Pay Entry Method: Choose to type your yearly salary or the amount on one paycheck.
Annual Salary: Enter your salary amount in dollars.
Hourly Wage: Enter how much you earn per hour.
Regular Hours per Pay Period: Enter the normal hours you work in one pay period.
Add Overtime: Turn this on if you work overtime hours.
Overtime Hourly Rate: This fills in at 1.5 times your wage. Change it if your rate is different.
Overtime Hours per Pay Period: Enter your overtime hours for this paycheck.
W-4 Format: Pick 2020 or Later if you filled out a new W-4. Pick Pre-2020 if your employer still uses your old one.
Federal Filing Status: Choose the status from Step 1c of your W-4, like Single or Married filing jointly.
Step 2 (Multiple Jobs): Check this box if you work more than one job or your spouse also works.
Step 3 (Dependents Credit): Enter your yearly credit. Use $2,000 per child under 17 and $500 per other dependent.
Step 4a (Other Income): Enter yearly income not from a job, like interest or dividends.
Step 4b (Deductions): Enter yearly deductions above the standard deduction.
Step 4c (Extra Withholding): Enter extra federal tax you want taken out each paycheck.
Federal Allowances: For old W-4s only. Enter how many allowances you claim.
Additional Federal Withholding: For old W-4s only. Enter extra dollars to withhold each paycheck.
NJ Filing Status: Pick your status from your NJ-W4. It can be different from your federal status.
NJ Allowance boxes: Enter allowances for yourself, your spouse, dependents, age 65+, and blind. The total fills in for you.
Total NJ-W4 Allowances: This shows your total. Each one lowers your NJ taxable wages by $1,000 a year.
NJ Elected Additional Withholding %: Pick a percent if you chose to have extra NJ tax taken out on your NJ-W4.
Additional NJ Withholding: Enter a flat dollar amount of extra NJ tax per paycheck.
Employer NJ SUI Rate: Enter your company's NJ unemployment rate. It is only used in the Employer view.
Employer Workers' Comp Rate: Enter the workers' comp rate. Employers pay this in New Jersey, not workers.
Pre-Tax Deductions: For each item, like medical or a traditional 401(k), pick a dollar amount or a percent of gross pay, then type the amount. These lower your taxable pay.
Post-Tax Deductions: Name each item, like Roth 401(k) or union dues. Pick a dollar amount, a percent of gross, or a percent of net, then type the amount. Use the Add button for more rows and the X button to remove one.
Tax Exemptions: Choose Yes only if you are exempt from a tax, then turn on each one that applies. New Jersey has no local income tax.
Calculate and Reset: Click Calculate to see your results. Click Reset to start over with the default values.
Results View: Switch between Employee and Employer, and between Per Paycheck and Annual, to see the numbers you want.
New Jersey Paycheck Basics
Your paycheck has two main numbers. Gross pay is what you earn before anything is taken out. Net pay (take-home pay) is what actually lands in your bank account. The gap between them is made up of taxes and deductions.
What Comes Out of a NJ Paycheck
- Federal income tax: based on your Form W-4, your pay, and how often you get paid.
- Social Security: 6.2% of wages, up to a yearly wage cap. Once you hit the cap, it stops for the rest of the year.
- Medicare: 1.45% of all wages, plus an extra 0.9% on wages over $200,000.
- NJ income tax: uses New Jersey's own brackets and its own allowance system from Form NJ-W4.
- NJ TDI (state disability) and NJ FLI (family leave): small worker payments, each with a yearly wage cap.
- NJ SUI / Workforce Development: a small unemployment payment from workers, also capped each year.
Two helpful facts: New Jersey has no local or city income tax, and workers' compensation is paid fully by the employer, so nothing comes out of your check for it.
Pre-Tax vs. Post-Tax Deductions
Pre-tax deductions come out first and lower your taxable wages, so you pay less tax. Health, dental, vision, FSA, and traditional 401(k) money are common ones. Note that 401(k) money still gets hit by Social Security and Medicare, and NJ still taxes HSA contributions even though the IRS does not.
Post-tax deductions come out after every tax is figured. Roth 401(k), union dues, and garnishments work this way. They do not cut your tax bill.
Why Pay Frequency Matters
Withholding math works by "annualizing" your check. Your pay is multiplied out to a full year, tax is figured on that yearly amount, then divided back down. That is why weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, and monthly checks can show slightly different tax amounts even at the same yearly salary.
How to Change Your Take-Home Pay
The fastest lever is your W-4 and NJ-W4. Claiming dependents or adding deductions lowers withholding. Adding extra withholding raises it, which can help you avoid owing money in April. New Jersey also lets you pick a set withholding percentage on the NJ-W4 if your normal withholding comes out too low.
Year-to-Date Wages
Social Security, NJ TDI, NJ FLI, and NJ SUI all stop once your yearly wages pass their wage base. That is why your paycheck can suddenly grow later in the year. Entering your year-to-date gross wages gives a much more accurate result than starting from zero. Getting a bonus? Withholding on it works differently.
Results are estimates for planning. Your real paystub may differ based on employer settings, benefit rules, bonuses, and multiple jobs.