What Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers earn in Somerset County, NJ
According to the latest federal wage data for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area, the median pay for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers in Somerset County, NJ is $65,670 a year, or $31.57 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $52,669 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Somerset County, NJ.
The mean wage is $73,940, which is 12.6% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 8,390 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. Somerset County, NJ has roughly 349,846 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $50,140 a year ($24.11 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $105,920 or more ($50.92 an hour). That is a gap of $55,780 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $57,000 at the 25th percentile and $88,080 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 Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers in Somerset County, NJ is $31.57. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $65,670, and the same salary is $5,473 a month before taxes or about $2,526 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $25.32 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers this way: "Smooth and finish surfaces of poured concrete, such as floors, walks, sidewalks, roads, or curbs using a variety of hand and power tools. Align forms for sidewalks, curbs, or gutters; patch voids; and use saws to cut expansion joints."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Check the forms that hold the concrete to see that they are properly constructed"; "Set the forms that hold concrete to the desired pitch and depth, and align them"; "Spread, level, and smooth concrete, using rake, shovel, hand or power trowel, hand or power screed, and float"; "Mold expansion joints and edges, using edging tools, jointers, and straightedge".
Job outlook for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 204,800 jobs in 2025 to 208,100 in 2035, a change of +1.6%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 13,600 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 6.6% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $57,020 for this occupation; the Somerset County, NJ median of $65,670 is 15.2% above it.
How pay in Somerset County, NJ compares
Compared with the New Jersey average
Somerset County, NJ pays above the state benchmark. The New Jersey employment-weighted average for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers is $64,773; the local median of $65,670 beats it by $897, or 1.4%. Within New Jersey, Somerset County, NJ already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers is $57,204 across the contiguous United States. At $65,670, Somerset County, NJ pays $8,466 more, which is 14.8% 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 Somerset County, NJ
Among the 671 occupations with published wages in Somerset County, NJ, Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers ranks number 373 by median pay, ahead of about 44% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Anesthesiologists at $460,800 a year, which is $395,130 more than the median for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $65,670 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 $13,001 a year, which leaves $52,669, or $4,389 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $20 goes to taxes and $80 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.8%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $49,920. 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 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $5,896, an effective 9.0% of gross pay, well below the 22% 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 $4,072 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $952. FICA totals $5,024, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in New Jersey
New Jersey income tax on this salary is $2,081 a year, or 3.2% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 35% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $173 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 Somerset County, NJ
IRS Statistics of Income data for Somerset County, NJ show an average adjusted gross income of $153,889 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 18.5% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.8%, compared with the 9.0% 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 Somerset County, NJ
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Somerset County, NJ: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $52,669 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Somerset County, NJ is $2,103 a month, or $25,236 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,623 a month. For Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers, a one-bedroom absorbs 47.9% of take-home pay and 38.4% 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 5.2% of gross pay for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers in Somerset 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 $32,717 a year, 62% of take-home pay. That leaves $19,952 a year, or $1,663 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 30.4% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Somerset County, NJ
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Somerset 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 Somerset County, NJ, set beside the New Jersey and national medians.
Property taxes in Somerset County, NJ
Homeowners in Somerset 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 $552,100, the median tax bill is 1.81% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers median of $65,670, a tax bill of that size would equal 15.2% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Somerset County, NJ
Renters in Somerset County, NJ pay a median gross rent of $2,033 a month in the Census survey, 18% above 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 $2,103 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 $552,100, 22% above the New Jersey median of $454,400. Median household income is $140,374, 36% above the New Jersey median of $103,556, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 18.0% of that income.
Commuting in Somerset County, NJ
Workers in Somerset County, NJ who travel to a workplace spend an average of 31.4 minutes each way, 3% above the New Jersey average of 30.5. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.2 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 22.7% of workers in Somerset County, NJ work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers afford to live in Somerset 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 $65,670 that ceiling is $1,642 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,103 is $461 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $40.44 an hour; the median for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers is $31.57, which is 22% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $25.32 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 19.2 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,623 a month means $1,312 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $9,498 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $29,450.
How fast you can save
At $1,663 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 7 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 14 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers pay in Somerset County, NJ
What is the hourly wage for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers in Somerset County, NJ?
The median is $31.57 per hour, based on $65,670 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $24.11 at the 10th percentile to $50.92 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers in Somerset County, NJ?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $65,670 becomes $52,669 a year. That is $4,389 a month, $2,026 every two weeks or $1,013 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers in Somerset County, NJ?
Total taxes are $13,001 a year, an effective rate of 19.8%: $5,896 federal income tax, $5,024 FICA and $2,081 New Jersey income tax.
Is pay for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers in Somerset County, NJ above the New Jersey average?
Yes. The local median of $65,670 is +1.4% versus the New Jersey average of $64,773, a difference of $897 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers salary in Somerset County, NJ?
A one-bedroom costs $2,103 a month against take-home pay of $4,389, which is 47.9% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,642 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers in Somerset County, NJ?
About $1,663 a month ($19,952 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $32,717 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Somerset County, NJ at the 30% guideline?
$40.44 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $25,236 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers is $31.57.
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.