New Jersey Minimum Wage 2026: $15.92/hr After Tax

New Jersey Minimum Wage After Tax in 2026

A full-time New Jersey worker at $15.92 an hour grosses $33,114 a year. After $1,794 in federal income tax, $2,533 in FICA and $493 in state income tax, take-home pay is about $28,293 a year, or $2,358 a month and $544 a week.

New Jersey's minimum wage is $15.92/hr for most employers -- but small businesses (5 or fewer employees) follow a separate rate. Calculate your actual take-home pay after NJ's low effective income tax rate.

New Jersey Minimum Wage After-Tax Calculator

New Jersey Minimum Wage 2026: Tiered Rates, Low Tax, and the NYC Commuter Question

New Jersey's minimum wage for most employers reached $15.92 per hour on January 1, 2026, reflecting CPI-indexed increases following the completion of the state's phased increase schedule under legislation enacted several years prior. The $15.92 rate applies to employers with six or more employees. Small employers -- those with five or fewer workers -- operate under a separate, lower schedule established in the same legislation to account for the different economic capacity of small businesses.

For a full-time worker at NJ's large-employer minimum earning $32,219 gross annually, estimated take-home pay after federal income tax, FICA, and New Jersey's low effective state income tax rate (approximately 2.2% at this income level) is around $27,900 per year -- or roughly $2,325 per month. New Jersey's progressive income tax is notably worker-friendly at low income levels, with the bottom bracket starting at just 1.4% and the rate for minimum wage earners staying relatively low despite the state's high top marginal rate of 10.75%.

The Tiered Employer Rate System

New Jersey's minimum wage law created two distinct tracks. Large employers (six or more employees) are subject to the standard rate -- $15.92 per hour in 2026. Small employers (five or fewer employees) follow a separate schedule that has trailed the large-employer rate by approximately one to two years in its phase-in timeline. Agricultural employers have yet another schedule. Workers employed by a small NJ employer should verify the current applicable small-employer minimum directly with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

This tiered approach was a legislative compromise intended to give smaller businesses more time to absorb wage increases. Critics argued it creates unequal treatment of workers doing identical jobs. Supporters said it prevented small-business closures in rural and lower-income parts of the state. The practical impact for workers is that the employer's size -- not the worker's job -- determines which minimum wage applies to them.

New Jersey's Tipped Minimum Wage: $5.62

New Jersey maintains a tip credit that allows employers to pay tipped workers a minimum cash wage of $5.62 per hour in 2026. The tip credit requires that tips bring total hourly compensation to the applicable minimum wage ($15.92 for large employers). If a worker's tips for a shift fall short of making up the difference between $5.62 and $15.92, the employer must pay the gap in cash on the next regular payday.

New Jersey's $5.62 tipped base is higher than the federal tipped minimum of $2.13 per hour but substantially below the full state minimum wage. Restaurant servers and bartenders in Atlantic City, Newark, or Jersey City who rely on tips in slow periods may face shifts where their effective hourly earnings approach the legal minimum only because the tip-credit makeup obligation kicks in. Workers in these situations should track their hours and tips to verify their employers are meeting the makeup obligation.

The NYC Commuter Wage Situation

Hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents work in New York City. These workers earn at minimum the NYC minimum wage of $16.50 per hour while in New York -- higher than NJ's $15.92 state minimum. Their income is subject to both New York State income tax and New York City income tax for the days they work in the city. New Jersey residents who pay income taxes in New York can claim a credit on their NJ tax return to avoid double taxation, but the credit calculation is complex. Workers in this cross-border situation should consult a tax professional familiar with NJ-NY reciprocity rules.

New Jersey does not have city-specific minimum wages. There is no Newark, Jersey City, or Paterson minimum wage ordinance separate from the state rate. All NJ workers are subject to the statewide rate for their employer type, regardless of municipality.

New Jersey Unemployment Insurance and FLI Payroll Deductions

New Jersey workers face additional payroll deductions beyond standard FICA: the state Unemployment Insurance (UI) deduction and the Family Leave Insurance (FLI) deduction. The UI deduction rate varies annually based on the state's UI trust fund balance. The FLI deduction funds New Jersey's paid family leave program. Together, these two deductions add a small percentage of wages to the total payroll deduction burden -- typically less than 0.5% combined for most workers -- but they are payroll deductions that workers in states without these programs do not face. This calculator's default state tax rate does not include UI and FLI; workers should add approximately 0.3% to 0.5% to the state tax field for a more complete estimate.

Atlantic City and the Hospitality Industry Context

Atlantic City's casino and hospitality industry employs a large share of southern New Jersey's minimum and near-minimum wage workforce. Casinos, hotel restaurants, and tourism-related services in Atlantic City frequently employ workers at the minimum wage in service, food prep, and housekeeping roles. The tipping culture in Atlantic City casinos means many service workers earn substantially above the minimum through gratuities, but back-of-house staff and cleaning crews often receive close to the statutory minimum. The 2026 $15.92 rate applies uniformly to these workers under the large-employer rate.

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