Carpenters in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,293
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$16,907
22.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,857
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
$75,200
Kept after tax
$58,293
Worth in national money
$53,857
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Massachusetts pays carpenters a middle wage of $75,200, ranking 4 of 51 states and sitting about 24.13% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Carpenters ranks 220 among 485 occupations Massachusetts publishes pay for.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $75,200 the take-home is $58,293; in national-average money that behaves like $53,857. The average comes to $79,680, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Massachusetts's median for carpenters is $75,200, about 24.13% above the national figure and 4 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 220 of 485 in Massachusetts places carpenters in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Take-home for carpenters in Massachusetts, on $75,200, is $58,293; deflated by the state's price level, $53,857. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $79,680 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $122,880 |
| This salary | $75,200 |
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 | $58,293 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,733 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,671 |
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 | $70,310 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,779 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of carpenters in Massachusetts earn under $75,200 and half over. The published range runs $48,230 at the tenth percentile to $122,880 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Massachusetts's $58,293, worked from $75,200. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 220 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $53,857 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 220.
- Figures are distribution medians for carpenters in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,230 to $122,880; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $58,293, on $75,200 for work ranking 220 of 485 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 220 of 485 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $53,857, worked from $75,200, 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 220 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $79,680, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $48,230 and the top tenth $122,880 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $53,857 — 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, $58,293 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $79,680. 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 ($48,230) and the ninetieth ($122,880) 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 $53,857 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 $58,293 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.