Well I mean what's your job, how many hours do you work? how stressful or enjoyable is the job. How much is required on average to invest in education to get your job? The answers you are getting on here are answering the question "is $73K a good budget to live off of in NJ?" Nobody is answering "is $73K a good salary for job X?" because we don't know what job X is. They are two different questions. A salary can be extremely adequate for living off of but a shitty salary for the job. Based on the comments, it seems you are seeking the answer to the second question.