How NJ salary steps work
A real A-P-R-S range, step by step, when you move up, and what a schedule frozen since 2007 is worth after inflation.
A real A-P-R-S range, step by step, when you move up, and what a schedule frozen since 2007 is worth after inflation.
Chapters
Transcript
New Jersey State pay runs on step schedules. Here's how one works, with real numbers from the current A-P-R-S schedule.
A salary code like P20 names a schedule and a range. Range 20 on A-P-R-S starts at $63,662.98.
Each step adds the same amount, $2,929.03 on this range. There are 11 steps, so the top step is $92,953.28.
You move up on your anniversary date, when your performance and place in the range warrant it. In State service, that comes after 26 full pay periods, about a year. Going from step eight to step nine takes 39.
For 12-month employees, these rates took effect July 11, 2026.
Not every schedule moves. Of the published schedules, 8 are frozen at an older date. The managerial schedule, M, was last set on July 7, 2007. Its range 30 still starts at $65,195.12.
Prices didn't freeze. By the national consumer price index, a dollar set in 2007 buys about 64 cents' worth at 2025 prices. So a rate frozen since then pays about a third less in real terms than the day it was set.
NJ Civil Service Navigator has 36 schedules today, with an archive back to fiscal 1985.
The data in this video
| Figure | Where it appears | Source |
|---|---|---|
| $63,662.98 | Range 20 on A-P-R-S starts at $63,662.98. | data/compendium/fy2027-salary-schedules.jsonschedules.A-P-R-S.ranges.20.steps.0 |
| $2,929.03 | Each step adds the same amount, $2,929.03 on this range. | data/compendium/fy2027-salary-schedules.jsonschedules.A-P-R-S.ranges.20.increment |
| 11 | There are 11 steps, so the top step is $92,953.28. | data/compendium/fy2027-salary-schedules.jsonschedules.A-P-R-S.stepCount |
| $92,953.28 | There are 11 steps, so the top step is $92,953.28. | data/compendium/fy2027-salary-schedules.jsonschedules.A-P-R-S.ranges.20.steps.last |
| July 11, 2026 | For 12-month employees, these rates took effect July 11, 2026. | data/compendium/fy2027-salary-schedules.jsoneffectiveDates.12month |
| 8 | Of the published schedules, 8 are frozen at an older date. | data/compendium/fy2027-salary-schedules.json (schedules where frozen is true and ergCodes not in data/compendium/known-empty-schedules.json allFiscalYears.ergs; currently E, M, MB, MD, VH, X, YE, YH)schedules.frozenWithTable.count |
| July 7, 2007 | The managerial schedule, M, was last set on July 7, 2007. | data/compendium/fy2027-salary-schedules.jsonschedules.M.effectiveDate |
| $65,195.12 | Its range 30 still starts at $65,195.12. | data/compendium/fy2027-salary-schedules.jsonschedules.M.ranges.30.steps.0 |
| 64 | By the national consumer price index, a dollar set in 2007 buys about 64 cents' worth at 2025 prices. | lib/inflation.js purchasingPowerRetained(2007) over data/reference/cpi-u-annual.json (CPI-U CUUR0000SA0, baseYear 2025)cpi.purchasingPowerRetained.2007.retained |
| 2025 | By the national consumer price index, a dollar set in 2007 buys about 64 cents' worth at 2025 prices. | data/reference/cpi-u-annual.json baseYearcpi.baseYear |
| about a third | So a rate frozen since then pays about a third less in real terms than the day it was set. | lib/inflation.js purchasingPowerRetained(2007) over data/reference/cpi-u-annual.json (CPI-U CUUR0000SA0, baseYear 2025)cpi.purchasingPowerRetained.2007.lostShare |
| 36 | NJ Civil Service Navigator has 36 schedules today, with an archive back to fiscal 1985. | data/compendium/schedule-history.jsonscheduleHistory.groupCount |
| 1985 | NJ Civil Service Navigator has 36 schedules today, with an archive back to fiscal 1985. | data/compendium/schedule-history.jsonscheduleHistory.fiscalYearRange.0 |
Rules quoted in this video
if warranted by performance and place in the salary range, for a salary increase.
the first pay period following the completion of 26 full pay periods after appointment.
only becomes eligible for advancement to the ninth step, if warranted by performance, following the completion of 39 pay periods.
Read more on the site
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How this video was made
The script was written from the rules and the data the site publishes, checked against them, and approved before narration. Every figure on screen and in the narration is read from a data file at render time rather than typed, so the video and this page state the same numbers. The narration is synthetic speech generated on our own computer; the captions are timed to it word by word. First published November 8, 2026. An independent reference, not the Civil Service Commission.
Sources read for this video:
- N.J.A.C. 4A:3-4.5 (data/njac-4a/sections.json), site page /regulations/4a-3-4-5
- data/compendium/fy2027-prefix-mapping.json
- data/compendium/fy2027-salary-schedules.json
- data/compendium/fy2027-salary-schedules.json (schedules where frozen is true and ergCodes not in data/compendium/known-empty-schedules.json allFiscalYears.ergs; currently E, M, MB, MD, VH, X, YE, YH)
- data/compendium/schedule-history.json
- data/reference/cpi-u-annual.json baseYear
- lib/inflation.js purchasingPowerRetained(2007) over data/reference/cpi-u-annual.json (CPI-U CUUR0000SA0, baseYear 2025)