What Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors earn in Sussex County, NJ
The median pay for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in Sussex County, NJ is $65,310 per year, which works out to $31.40 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area, the labor market that Sussex County, NJ belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $66,040, which is 1.1% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 13,310 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. Sussex County, NJ has roughly 145,807 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $41,130 a year ($19.77 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $86,720 or more ($41.69 an hour). That is a gap of $45,590 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $46,990 at the 25th percentile and $86,310 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
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $31.40 an hour or $65,310 a year at the median for Sussex County, NJ. Before any deductions, that is $5,443 a month, $2,512 every two weeks and $1,256 each week. After taxes the same job pays $25.21 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors this way: "Collect and dump refuse or recyclable materials from containers into truck. May drive truck."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Inspect trucks prior to beginning routes to ensure safe operating condition"; "Refuel trucks or add other fluids, such as oil or brake fluid"; "Fill out defective equipment reports"; "Drive trucks, following established routes, through residential streets or alleys or through business or industrial areas".
Job outlook for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 156,400 jobs in 2025 to 159,600 in 2035, a change of +2.1%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 15,500 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 9.9% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $49,690 for this occupation; the Sussex County, NJ median of $65,310 is 31.4% above it.
How pay in Sussex County, NJ compares
Compared with the New Jersey average
A worker in this occupation in Sussex County, NJ earns $1,647 more than the New Jersey average of $63,663, a premium of 2.6%. Over a year that premium is worth $1,647 before tax and roughly $1,323 after tax. Within New Jersey, Sussex County, NJ already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors is $53,070 across the contiguous United States. At $65,310, Sussex County, NJ pays $12,240 more, which is 23.1% 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 Sussex County, NJ
Among the 671 occupations with published wages in Sussex County, NJ, Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors ranks number 376 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 $395,490 more than the median for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors earning the Sussex County, NJ median of $65,310, they add up to $12,874. The result is $52,436 of take-home pay a year ($4,370 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $20 goes to taxes and $80 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.7%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $49,560. 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 $5,817, an effective 8.9% 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 $4,049 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $947. FICA totals $4,996, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in New Jersey
New Jersey income tax on this salary is $2,061 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 $172 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 Sussex County, NJ
IRS Statistics of Income data for Sussex County, NJ show an average adjusted gross income of $101,312 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.7% 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 8.9% 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 Sussex County, NJ
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Sussex County, NJ: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $52,436 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Sussex County, NJ, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,850 a month ($22,200 a year), and at $2,233 for two bedrooms. For Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors, a one-bedroom absorbs 42.3% of take-home pay and 34.0% 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 5.3% of gross pay for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in Sussex 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
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $29,681 a year in Sussex County, NJ. Subtract that from $52,436 of take-home pay and $22,755 remains, which is $1,896 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 34.8% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Sussex County, NJ
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Sussex 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 Sussex County, NJ, set beside the New Jersey and national medians.
Property taxes in Sussex County, NJ
Homeowners in Sussex County, NJ pay a median of $8,568 a year in real estate taxes, 11% below the New Jersey median of $9,590 and 175% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $369,400, the median tax bill is 2.32% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors median of $65,310, a tax bill of that size would equal 13.1% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Sussex County, NJ
Renters in Sussex County, NJ pay a median gross rent of $1,585 a month in the Census survey, 8% below 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 $369,400, 19% below the New Jersey median of $454,400. Median household income is $116,186, 12% above the New Jersey median of $103,556, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 19.1% of that income.
Commuting in Sussex County, NJ
Workers in Sussex County, NJ who travel to a workplace spend an average of 36.3 minutes each way, 19% above the New Jersey average of 30.5. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 6.0 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 14.9% of workers in Sussex County, NJ work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors afford to live in Sussex 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 $65,310 that ceiling is $1,633 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,850 is $217 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 Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors is $31.40, which is 12% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $25.21 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 16.9 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 $31,557.
How fast you can save
At $1,896 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 6 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 12 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors pay in Sussex County, NJ
How much do Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors make per hour in Sussex County, NJ?
The median is $31.40 per hour, based on $65,310 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $19.77 at the 10th percentile to $41.69 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors take home after taxes in Sussex County, NJ?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $65,310 becomes $52,436 a year. That is $4,370 a month, $2,017 every two weeks or $1,008 a week.
How much tax do Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors pay in Sussex County, NJ?
Total taxes are $12,874 a year, an effective rate of 19.7%: $5,817 federal income tax, $4,996 FICA and $2,061 New Jersey income tax.
Do Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors earn more in Sussex County, NJ than elsewhere in New Jersey?
Yes. The local median of $65,310 is +2.6% versus the New Jersey average of $63,663, a difference of $1,647 a year.
Can Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors afford a one-bedroom apartment in Sussex County, NJ?
A one-bedroom costs $1,850 a month against take-home pay of $4,370, which is 42.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,633 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in Sussex County, NJ?
About $1,896 a month ($22,755 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 Sussex 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 Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors is $31.40.
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.