Live in Massachusetts, work in New Hampshire
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
New Hampshire takes
$0
on wages earned there
Massachusetts takes
$2,680
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
no work-state taxNew Hampshire has no income tax, so only Massachusetts taxes this pay. 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
- No income tax in New Hampshire means one bill instead of two, not zero bills. Massachusetts still taxes you because you live there, and it reaches pay earned across the line. You owe $2,680 for the year, and only Massachusetts collects it.
- More people make this crossing than any other into New Hampshire. About 45,903 jobs there are held by people living in Massachusetts — the biggest of the 3 routes of this size into the state. Whatever this page says about the tax, it is describing a very well-worn road.
- New Hampshire levies no individual income tax, so a commuter into it is taxed by Massachusetts alone, on the whole of the wages, at $2,680 for the reference salary. ⛔ The common expectation — that working in a state without an income tax removes the tax — is exactly backwards for a commuter: residence is what gives Massachusetts its claim, and that claim reaches income wherever it is earned. There is no work-state liability to credit against it, so nothing offsets the Massachusetts bill. The only version of this that changes the answer is moving.
- Measured against every other state sending commuters into New Hampshire, this is the largest single flow: 45,903 jobs held by Massachusetts residents, ahead of all 3 corridors of this size into that state. Census LODES counts jobs rather than people, so a worker holding two positions in New Hampshire appears twice.
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
| New Hampshire takes, on wages earned there | $0 |
|---|---|
| Massachusetts charges its residents | $2,680 |
| Less the credit Massachusetts gives | $0 |
| 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 New Hampshire state figure is not the whole story if it does.
- Two assumptions sit under this page. First, that New Hampshire is where all your pay comes from. Second, that you go there rather than working from your kitchen in Massachusetts. Mixed income changes how the credit is worked out, and remote days have their own rules in some states.
- Sixty thousand a year is the assumption behind these amounts, chosen because nobody publishes average pay for a route between two states. At your own salary the numbers shift. The conclusion about which of Massachusetts and New Hampshire takes more usually does not, but the size of the difference can.
- 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 New Hampshire or Massachusetts carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire'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 New Hampshire?
Not twice over. Both states have a claim — New Hampshire because you earn the money there, Massachusetts because you live there — but Massachusetts gives you credit for what New Hampshire took. The credit stops at what Massachusetts would have charged on its own, so what you actually pay is the bigger of the two bills. Here that comes to $2,680 for the year.
Does working in New Hampshire cost me anything extra?
Nothing extra, on this route. You end the year owing $2,680, exactly what you would owe if the job were in Massachusetts. That is not true of every crossing — plenty of them do cost money — but this one does not. What it does cost you is time at tax filing, because two states may each want a return.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire?
Expect two. Living in Massachusetts means filing there on everything you earn. Working in New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire?
Normally, days worked at home in Massachusetts belong to Massachusetts, and only the days you spend in New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire'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 — New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire'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 New Hampshire.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Massachusetts requires a resident return reporting all income; New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire'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 New Hampshire throughout.