Where My Taxes Go

Federal taxesFiscal year 2025IRS Data Book

How much federal tax does New Jersey pay?

New Jersey paid $192.1 billion in federal taxes in FY2025: $20,118 per person, 9th of 51.That is what the IRS collected from individuals and businesses with an address in New Jersey in fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), before refunds. After $18.9 billion of refunds, $173.2 billion remained.

FY2025 total
$192B
$192.1 billion
Per person
$20,118
30% above the US average
Share of US
3.6%
7th of 51 by total
Change on FY2024
+4.8%
FY2024: $183B

New Jersey ranks 9th of 51 for federal tax per person

IRS gross collections per resident, FY2025, 50 states and DC, highest to lowest. Dashed line: US average.

$0$10K$20K$30KDistrict of Columbia $60,067 (axis cut)US average $15,462New Jersey $20,118HighestLowest$0$10K$20K$30KDistrict of Columbia $60,067 (axis cut)US average $15,462New Jersey $20,118HighestLowest

What the total is made of

Most federal tax is taken from pay. In New Jersey, income tax withheld by employers together with Social Security and Medicare payroll tax came to $122.9 billion, 64.0% of the total. The IRS reports withholding and payroll tax as one figure for each state, because employers pay them in together.

Corporate income tax was $27.2 billion (14.1%), against 9.1% across all states. Corporate tax is counted at a company's principal office, so states with many head offices show more of it.

Where New Jersey's $192B of federal tax came from

IRS gross collections by type of tax, FY2025.

Type of taxFY2025Share
Income tax withheld + Social Security and Medicare payroll tax$122.9 billion64.0%
Individual tax payments + self-employment tax$36.5 billion19.0%
Corporate income tax$27.2 billion14.1%
Excise taxes$2.6 billion1.4%
Estate and trust income tax$1.9 billion1.0%
Estate tax$492.5 million0.3%
Unemployment, railroad retirement and gift tax$527.8 million0.3%

Source: IRS Data Book Table 5.

Federal taxes paid in New Jersey by year

New Jersey: $192B in FY2025, up 37% on FY2019

IRS gross collections, FY2019–FY2025, nominal dollars.

$0$50B$100B$150B$200BFY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024$192BFY2025$0$50B$100B$150B$200B'2019'2021'2023$192B'2025
Every year as a table, with refunds and per person
Fiscal yearGross collectionsRefundsAfter refundsPer personChange
FY2019$140.3B$15.5B$124.7B––
FY2020$131.3B$20.4B$110.9B$14,166-6.4%
FY2021$156.2B$28.8B$127.3B$16,85218.9%
FY2022$186.8B$22.7B$164.1B$20,09219.6%
FY2023$180.5B$18.1B$162.5B$19,216-3.4%
FY2024$183.2B$13.5B$169.7B$19,2741.5%
FY2025$192.1B$18.9B$173.2B$20,1184.8%

B = billion, M = million. Per-person figures start in FY2020, the first year of the Census Vintage 2025 estimates. Refunds in FY2020 and FY2021 include the pandemic Economic Impact Payments, which the IRS counts as refunds.

Source: IRS Data Book Tables 5 and 8 / 1-8.

Collections in New Jersey rose from $140.3 billion in FY2019 to $192.1 billion in FY2025. Across all states they rose 49% over the same years. The biggest one-year move was in FY2022 (+20%). Year-to-year swings can reflect when tax was paid, such as filing deadlines postponed after a disaster, rather than what was owed.

Is New Jersey a donor state?

For every $1 of federal tax the IRS collected in New Jersey in FY2025, $0.47 came back as federal contracts, grants, loans and direct payments ($91.2 billion in all, excluding Medicare). Across all states the figure was $0.76, so New Jersey gets less back than the typical state: 51st of 51, where 1st gets the most back per $1.

Per person, that is $20,118 of federal tax collected against $9,548 of federal awards. On this measure it is on the donor side: it sends in more, relative to what comes back, than most states. Where the money goes in New Jersey: federal money to New Jersey by agency and program. All states: donor states and taker states.

Federal awards per $1 of federal tax: New Jersey and its neighbours

FY2025. Dark bar: all states together.

Pennsylvania$0.86
All states$0.76
New York$0.59
Delaware$0.55
New Jersey (this page)$0.47
How this is measured, and what it leaves out
  • Tax side: IRS gross collections for FY2025, before refunds. The IRS assigns them to the filer's address and, for companies, to the principal office, so a company's whole corporate tax is counted where its head office is. States where corporate income tax is an unusually large part of collections, such as Nebraska, Delaware and Washington, look as if their residents pay more than they do. Employers near a state line may withhold tax for people who live in the next state.
  • Spending side: federal award obligations for FY2025 on USAspending.gov by place of performance: contracts, grants (including Medicaid), loans and direct payments such as Social Security. Medicare is left out because it is recorded where claims are processed, not where patients live. Federal salaries, military pay and interest on the debt are not reported as awards, so they are not included either.
  • Why the all-state figure is $0.76, not $1: the spending side leaves out Medicare, federal pay and interest, and the federal government spends more than it collects. So the fair comparison is with the all-state figure, not with $1.
  • This compares two official datasets. It is not a full accounting of who pays for what, and a different method (for example, adding federal salaries and Medicare) gives different numbers.

How New Jersey compares

Federal tax per person: New Jersey and its neighbouring states

IRS gross collections per resident, FY2025. Dark bar: US average.

Delaware$20,968
New York$20,565
New Jersey (this page)$20,118
US average (50 states + DC)$15,462
Pennsylvania$14,466

Closest in the per-person ranking: New York ($20,565), Connecticut ($20,528), California ($19,478), Illinois ($17,902).

Questions and answers

How much federal tax does New Jersey pay?
The IRS collected $192.1 billion in federal taxes in New Jersey in fiscal year 2025 (gross collections, before $18.9 billion of refunds), according to the IRS Data Book. That is 3.6% of the total for the 50 states and DC.
How much federal tax does New Jersey pay per person?
About $20,118 per resident in FY2025, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 population estimate of 9,548,215. The average for the 50 states and DC was $15,462.
Where does New Jersey rank for federal taxes?
7th of 51 by total and 9th per person in FY2025 (50 states and DC).
Is New Jersey a donor state?
On the IRS and USAspending figures for FY2025, New Jersey received $0.47 in federal awards for every $1 of federal tax collected there, against $0.76 for all states together, so it gets less back than the typical state (51st of 51). Medicare, federal salaries and interest are not in the awards figure.
Did New Jersey pay more federal tax in 2025 than in 2024?
Yes. Gross collections were $192.1 billion in FY2025 against $183.2 billion in FY2024, a change of 4.8%.

Sources and notes

  1. Internal Revenue Service, SOI Tax Stats, IRS Data Book Table 5 (gross collections by type of tax and state), FY2019–FY2025. Amounts are gross collections, including penalties and interest, before refunds. The IRS assigns them to the filer's address; for businesses, the principal office. Public domain. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
  2. Internal Revenue Service, IRS Data Book Table 8 / Table 1-8 (amount of refunds issued, including interest and refundable credits, by state), FY2019–FY2025. Public domain.
  3. USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury): federal contract, grant, loan and direct-payment obligations by place of performance, excluding Medicare. Public domain.
  4. U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates (July 1 of each year), used for per-person figures.
  5. How the site works and what each dataset leaves out: sources and methods.