Three insurance lines, all cheaper in 2026
A New Jersey stub carries more state program lines than almost any other: unemployment (with workforce funds), temporary disability, and family leave insurance - each with its own rate and its own wage base. The 2026 news is good: TDI fell to 0.19% and FLI to 0.23%, cutting the combined maximum program cost to about $909 a year. Several calculators still run the older, higher rates; ours reads the current-year official notice, dated in the dossier below.
The income tax itself is steeply progressive - 1.40% up to 10.75% across seven-to-eight brackets depending on filing status, with a $1,000 exemption per allowance and no standard deduction at all. That no-deduction design means every taxable dollar counts from the start, which is why New Jersey effective rates climb faster than neighbors' at modest salaries. Newark and Jersey City payroll taxes? Employer-paid - never on your stub.