Chemists in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$90,774
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$34,227
27.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$83,865
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
$125,000
Kept after tax
$90,774
Worth in national money
$83,865
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Massachusetts pays chemists a middle wage of $125,000, ranking 5 of 51 states and sitting about 37% above the national middle.
- Within Massachusetts this is well-paid work. Of 485 occupations with published figures in the state, chemists ranks 50 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $125,000, tax leaves $90,774 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $83,865 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $128,930, since top earners drag the number up.
- Massachusetts's median for chemists is $125,000, about 37% above the national figure and 5 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Massachusetts publishes a median for, chemists sits 50 of 485 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After tax, $90,774 remains from the Massachusetts median of $125,000 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $83,865 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $128,930 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chemists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $71,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $125,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $212,210 |
| This salary | $125,000 |
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 | $90,774 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $96,704 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$15,650 |
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 | $116,480 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$21,709 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Massachusetts earn less than $125,000. The published range is $71,120 up to $212,210, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Massachusetts's $90,774, worked from $125,000. 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 50 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $83,865, the adjusted value of that $125,000 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 50 of 485 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for chemists in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $71,120 to $212,210. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $90,774, on $125,000 for work ranking 50 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 50 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $83,865 — the adjusted value of that $125,000 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 50 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 $128,930, 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 $71,120 and the top tenth $212,210 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $83,865 rather than its face figure.
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, $90,774 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 $128,930. 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 ($71,120) and the ninetieth ($212,210) 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 $83,865 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 $90,774 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.