Live in Massachusetts, work in Connecticut
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Connecticut takes
$2,550
on wages earned there
Massachusetts takes
$130
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,680
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$0
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
credit covers itMassachusetts charges more, so its credit covers everything Connecticut takes. Both states collect; your total does not change. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Massachusetts bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- Good news for this route. Working in Connecticut costs you nothing extra, because Massachusetts charges more than Connecticut does and gives you credit for everything Connecticut takes. Your year comes to $2,680, the same as if you never left Massachusetts for work. What changes is the paperwork, not the money — two states will want a return from you.
- This is not one of the country's big crossings. 34,682 jobs in Connecticut are held by people living in Massachusetts. The tax rules do not care about that — they are the same ones that apply to the busiest routes in the country. What can differ is how used to the paperwork your employer is.
- Both states tax these wages and the commuter pays no more than they would have at home. Connecticut takes its non-resident share first — $2,550 at the reference salary — and Massachusetts, whose own liability on the same income is the larger of the two, credits that amount in full and collects the balance. The total is $2,680, identical to what an earner living and working in Massachusetts would owe. ⚠️ The money is split between two treasuries rather than reduced, which matters at filing time: two state returns, not one.
- This is a smaller corridor by national standards — 34,682 jobs in Connecticut held by Massachusetts residents — but the rules that govern it are the same rules that govern the largest ones. Corridor size changes how familiar an employer's payroll department is with the paperwork, never the tax treatment.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$3,430
- Yours$58,163
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax4.57% | $3,430 |
| Yours77.55% | $58,163 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| Connecticut takes, on wages earned there | $2,550 |
|---|---|
| Massachusetts charges its residents | $2,680 |
| Less the credit Massachusetts gives | $2,550 |
| Total state tax | $2,680 |
| If you also worked in Massachusetts | $2,680 |
| Difference | $0 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- One thing this page leaves out: city taxes. Some cities charge their own tax on people who work there, and it sits on top of everything above. Philadelphia is the well-known one. New York City only charges its own residents, so commuting in adds nothing. Check whether the city you work in is one that charges, because the Connecticut state figure is not the whole story if it does.
- These numbers assume the job in Connecticut is your only income, and that you actually go there to work. Both matter. If you earn money in more than one state, the credit Massachusetts gives is worked out as a share rather than the simple cap used here. And if you work from home some days, some states have rules that treat those days as worked at the office anyway.
- Every dollar figure here uses a salary of sixty thousand a year. It is a stated benchmark, not a guess at what people on this route earn. Scale them to your own pay. Which state ends up dearer, Massachusetts or Connecticut, generally holds at other salaries — though the gap between them can widen or narrow as you cross tax brackets.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether Connecticut or Massachusetts carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Connecticut and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Massachusetts limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Connecticut portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Connecticut rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the Massachusetts to Connecticut comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in Connecticut's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to Massachusetts and Connecticut?
Both states tax the same wages, and then one of them backs off. Connecticut taxes what you earn inside it. Massachusetts taxes you on everything, then subtracts what Connecticut already took, up to the size of its own bill. You end up paying the larger of the two, which is $2,680 a year on this route.
Does working in Connecticut cost me anything extra?
No. The state line is real on a map and invisible on your pay stub here. Your total is $2,680 either way. Keep the paperwork in mind though: crossing a line usually means filing twice even when it changes nothing.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Massachusetts and Connecticut?
Expect two. Living in Massachusetts means filing there on everything you earn. Working in Connecticut usually means filing there as well, on the part you earned inside it. The second one is often how the credit gets claimed, so skipping it can cost you money you are owed.
What if I work from home in Massachusetts some days instead of going to Connecticut?
Normally, days worked at home in Massachusetts belong to Massachusetts, and only the days you spend in Connecticut are taxed there. That is the ordinary rule. The exception is real though: some states count your remote days as worked at the employer's location anyway. That flips the answer completely, so check Connecticut's rule rather than assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Connecticut on a source basis, Massachusetts on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $2,680 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Why is the marginal state-tax cost of this crossing zero?
Marginal cost is zero because the binding liability is the residence state's. Massachusetts's own charge on this income equals or exceeds Connecticut's, so the resident credit absorbs the source-state tax entirely and combined liability equals residence-only liability, $2,680. ⚠️ Zero marginal tax is not zero obligation: a non-resident return may still be required in Connecticut.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Massachusetts requires a resident return reporting all income; Connecticut requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from Massachusetts fall outside Connecticut's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in Connecticut throughout.