What Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers earn in Union County, NJ
According to the latest federal wage data for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area, the median pay for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers in Union County, NJ is $45,980 a year, or $22.11 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $38,081 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Union County, NJ.
The mean wage is $51,020, which is 11.0% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 8,710 people working in this occupation across the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Union County, NJ has roughly 579,290 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $36,170 a year ($17.39 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $74,750 or more ($35.94 an hour). That is a gap of $38,580 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $39,630 at the 25th percentile and $57,240 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.1 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers in Union County, NJ is $22.11. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $45,980, and the same salary is $3,832 a month before taxes or about $1,768 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $18.31 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers this way: "Plan and erect commercial displays, such as those in windows and interiors of retail stores and at trade exhibitions."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Take photographs of displays or signage"; "Plan commercial displays to entice and appeal to customers"; "Place prices or descriptive signs on backdrops, fixtures, merchandise, or floor"; "Change or rotate window displays, interior display areas, or signage to reflect changes in inventory or promotion".
Job outlook for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 164,800 jobs in 2025 to 169,200 in 2035, a change of +2.7%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 17,200 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 10.4% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $39,390 for this occupation; the Union County, NJ median of $45,980 is 16.7% above it.
How pay in Union County, NJ compares
Compared with the New Jersey average
Union County, NJ pays above the state benchmark. The New Jersey employment-weighted average for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers is $44,174; the local median of $45,980 beats it by $1,806, or 4.1%. Within New Jersey, Union County, NJ already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers is $40,682 across the contiguous United States. At $45,980, Union County, NJ pays $5,298 more, which is 13.0% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Union County, NJ
Among the 671 occupations with published wages in Union County, NJ, Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers ranks number 575 by median pay, ahead of about 14% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Anesthesiologists at $460,800 a year, which is $414,820 more than the median for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $45,980 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $7,899 a year, which leaves $38,081, or $3,173 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $17 goes to taxes and $83 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 17.2%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $30,230. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $3,389, an effective 7.4% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,851 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $667. FICA totals $3,517, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in New Jersey
New Jersey income tax on this salary is $993 a year, or 2.2% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 29% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $83 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Union County, NJ
IRS Statistics of Income data for Union County, NJ show an average adjusted gross income of $110,884 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 17.1% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.0%, compared with the 7.4% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Union County, NJ
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Union County, NJ: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $38,081 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Union County, NJ is $1,850 a month, or $22,200 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,233 a month. For Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers, a one-bedroom absorbs 58.3% of take-home pay and 48.3% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 7.5% of gross pay for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers in Union County, NJ. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using New Jersey residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $2,044 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $518, for $2,562 in total. Gasoline in New Jersey averages $3.21 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,484.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $29,681 a year, 78% of take-home pay. That leaves $8,399 a year, or $700 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 18.3% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Union County, NJ
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Union County, NJ: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Union County, NJ, set beside the New Jersey and national medians.
Property taxes in Union County, NJ
Homeowners in Union County, NJ pay a median of $10,001 a year in real estate taxes, 4% above the New Jersey median of $9,590 and 221% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $529,200, the median tax bill is 1.89% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers median of $45,980, a tax bill of that size would equal 21.8% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Union County, NJ
Renters in Union County, NJ pay a median gross rent of $1,730 a month in the Census survey, in line with the New Jersey median of $1,720. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,850 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $529,200, 16% above the New Jersey median of $454,400. Median household income is $103,202, in line with the New Jersey median of $103,556, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 21.5% of that income.
Commuting in Union County, NJ
Workers in Union County, NJ who travel to a workplace spend an average of 30.2 minutes each way, in line with the New Jersey average of 30.5. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.0 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 14.2% of workers in Union County, NJ work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers afford to live in Union County, NJ?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $45,980 that ceiling is $1,150 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,850 is $701 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $35.58 an hour; the median for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers is $22.11, which is 38% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $18.31 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 23.3 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,233 a month means $1,117 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $8,802 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $17,201.
How fast you can save
At $700 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 15 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 30 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers pay in Union County, NJ
What is the hourly wage for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers in Union County, NJ?
The median is $22.11 per hour, based on $45,980 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $17.39 at the 10th percentile to $35.94 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers in Union County, NJ?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $45,980 becomes $38,081 a year. That is $3,173 a month, $1,465 every two weeks or $732 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers in Union County, NJ?
Total taxes are $7,899 a year, an effective rate of 17.2%: $3,389 federal income tax, $3,517 FICA and $993 New Jersey income tax.
Is pay for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers in Union County, NJ above the New Jersey average?
Yes. The local median of $45,980 is +4.1% versus the New Jersey average of $44,174, a difference of $1,806 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers salary in Union County, NJ?
A one-bedroom costs $1,850 a month against take-home pay of $3,173, which is 58.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,150 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers in Union County, NJ?
About $700 a month ($8,399 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $29,681 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Union County, NJ at the 30% guideline?
$35.58 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $22,200 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers is $22.11.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the New Jersey rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.