Atmospheric and Space Scientists in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,761
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$28,289
26.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,690
Massachusetts costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Massachusetts — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$108,050
Kept after tax
$79,761
Worth in national money
$73,690
State rank
16
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Massachusetts is 16 of 47 states for atmospheric and space scientists, with a middle wage of $108,050. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Massachusetts. It ranks 81 out of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $108,050 the take-home is $79,761. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $73,690 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $119,440, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Massachusetts ranks 16 of 47 for atmospheric and space scientists at $108,050. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Massachusetts, atmospheric and space scientists ranks 81 of 485 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Massachusetts income tax is $79,761 for atmospheric and space scientists, from $108,050. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $73,690. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $119,440 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Atmospheric and Space Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $71,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $108,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $166,140 |
| This salary | $108,050 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Massachusetts | $79,761 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $84,843 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$13,620 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $100,825 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$18,813 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $108,050 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $71,290 and the ninetieth is $166,140 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $79,761 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $108,050. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 81 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $73,690 uses one figure for the whole of Massachusetts. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 485 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 81.
- The Massachusetts median of $108,050 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $71,290 to $166,140. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $79,761, from $108,050, assumes a single Massachusetts filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 81 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $73,690, worked from $108,050, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Massachusetts address, on work sitting at 81 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $119,440 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $71,290, the highest tenth $166,140, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Massachusetts run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $73,690 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Massachusetts's own levy, $79,761 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Massachusetts is $119,440. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($71,290) and the ninetieth ($166,140) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Massachusetts's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $73,690 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $79,761 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Massachusetts income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.