Cashiers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,264
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$6,256
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,037
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
$35,520
Kept after tax
$29,264
Worth in national money
$27,037
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts is one of the better-paying states for cashiers. The middle earner takes $35,520, which ranks 9 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 8.03% above the national middle.
- Against 485 occupations Massachusetts publishes, cashiers lands at 479. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $35,520 the take-home is $29,264. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $27,037 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $36,860, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Massachusetts ranks 9 of 51 states publishing a median for cashiers, at $35,520 — about 8.03% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Massachusetts, this work ranks 479 of 485 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Massachusetts income tax is $29,264 for cashiers, from $35,520. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $27,037. ⚠️ 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 $36,860 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cashiers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,520 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,020 |
| This salary | $35,520 |
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 | $29,264 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,720 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,576 |
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 | $33,708 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,535 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,520 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,180 and the ninetieth is $44,020 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Massachusetts's $29,264, worked from $35,520. 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 479 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $27,037, the adjusted value of that $35,520 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 479 of 485 in the state.
- The Massachusetts median of $35,520 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,180 to $44,020. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $29,264, on $35,520 for work ranking 479 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 479 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $27,037 — the adjusted value of that $35,520 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 479 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 $36,860, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $32,180 and the top tenth $44,020, so most people doing this work in Massachusetts sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $27,037 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Massachusetts adds its own income tax on top — which is why $29,264 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $36,860. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,180 to $44,020) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Massachusetts rather than a national figure.
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 $27,037 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 $29,264 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.