What is the current New Jersey minimum wage?

New Jersey's minimum wage is $15.49 per hour, effective January 1, 2024. This applies to most employees at large employers. Small employers (5 or fewer employees) and seasonal employers follow a slightly different schedule. The rate is set by L.2019, c.32 and is adjusted each January based on the Consumer Price Index; no CPI increase triggered a change for 2025, so $15.49/hr remains in force.

How much does NJ minimum wage earn per year?

At $15.49/hr for a standard 40-hour week (52 weeks), gross annual pay is $32,219.20. No taxes are deducted — this is gross earnings only. Part-time hours (e.g., 30h/week) give $24,164.40 annually; enter your actual hours in the calculator for a precise figure.

How is overtime calculated in New Jersey?

Federal FLSA rules, which apply in New Jersey, require overtime pay at 1.5 times the regular hourly rate for every hour worked beyond 40 in a single workweek. If you earn $15.49/hr, your overtime rate is $23.235/hr. The calculator applies this automatically when you enter more than 40 hours per week.

Is New Jersey's minimum wage higher than the federal minimum?

Yes — significantly. New Jersey's $15.49/hr is more than double the federal floor of $7.25/hr, which has not changed since July 24, 2009. A full-time NJ minimum-wage worker earns roughly $16,975 more per year than someone paid only the federal minimum, assuming 40 hours a week for 52 weeks.

Does the NJ minimum wage apply to tipped workers?

Tipped employees in New Jersey may be paid a cash wage of $5.62/hr, provided that tips bring their total hourly earnings to at least $15.49. If tips fall short, the employer must make up the difference. This calculator uses the full $15.49/hr as the default; adjust the wage field to $5.62 to model the cash-wage-only scenario.

What does gross pay mean, and does this calculator deduct taxes?

Gross pay is earnings before any deductions — federal and New Jersey state income tax, Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%), and any voluntary deductions like health insurance are not included here. To estimate take-home pay, subtract roughly 20–30% from your annual gross as a rule of thumb, or use a dedicated payroll tax calculator.

New Jersey Minimum Wage Calculator

New Jersey operates one of the highest state minimum wages in the United States. As of January 1, 2024, the standard rate is $15.49 per hour — more than double the federal floor of $7.25/hr that has been frozen since 2009. This calculator turns that hourly rate into a complete gross-pay picture across every pay period, and shows exactly how much better off a New Jersey worker is compared to someone earning the federal minimum.

How it works

Enter your hourly wage (pre-filled at the NJ minimum of $15.49) and your hours worked per week. The calculator then:

Splits hours into regular (up to 40) and overtime (anything beyond 40).
Multiplies regular hours by the wage and overtime hours by 1.5 times the wage (the FLSA “time and a half” rule, which New Jersey also follows).
Adds both figures for the weekly gross.
Derives monthly gross as weekly gross times 52 divided by 12 — the exact average because months are not all the same length.
Derives annual gross as weekly gross times 52.
Runs the same arithmetic at the federal minimum of $7.25/hr and reports the annualized dollar advantage of working in New Jersey.

No data ever leaves your browser.

Worked example

A retail worker in Newark earns exactly the state minimum and works 45 hours in a busy week:

Regular hours: 40 x $15.49 = $619.60
Overtime hours: 5 x $23.235 (1.5x) = $116.18
Weekly gross: $735.78
Monthly gross: $735.78 x 52 / 12 = $3,188.38
Annual gross: $735.78 x 52 = $38,260.56

Compare that to a worker in a state with no minimum wage paying only $7.25/hr for the same 45 hours: weekly gross just $344.38, annual gross $17,907.76. The NJ worker earns $20,352.80 more per year purely because of the higher state floor.

Scenario	Weekly	Monthly	Annual
NJ min ($15.49), 40h/wk	$619.60	$2,684.93	$32,219.20
NJ min ($15.49), 45h/wk	$735.78	$3,188.38	$38,260.56
$20.00/hr, 40h/wk	$800.00	$3,466.67	$41,600.00
Federal min ($7.25), 40h/wk	$290.00	$1,256.67	$15,080.00

All figures are gross pay before tax. New Jersey levies a graduated state income tax (1.4% to 10.75%), and federal taxes (10%–37%) plus FICA (7.65%) apply on top. Use this calculator to establish the pre-tax baseline, then consult a payroll tax tool for net take-home estimates.

New Jersey minimum wage history

New Jersey passed the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act in 2018 and its landmark minimum wage law (L.2019, c.32) in February 2019, setting a path to $15/hr for large employers by 2024. Key milestones for standard employers:

2019: $8.85/hr
2020: $11.00/hr
2021: $12.00/hr
2022: $13.00/hr
2023: $14.13/hr
2024: $15.49/hr (CPI-adjusted above the $15.00 target)
2025: $15.49/hr (no CPI trigger met for an increase)

The law requires annual CPI reviews each January. Agricultural workers have a separate phased schedule, and small/seasonal employers (6 or more employees triggers the standard rate) have historically followed a slightly lower path.