Childcare Workers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,318
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$7,582
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,782
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
$40,900
Kept after tax
$33,318
Worth in national money
$30,782
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts is one of the better-paying states for childcare workers. The middle earner takes $40,900, which ranks 3 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 16.92% above the national middle.
- Within Massachusetts this is lower-paid work. Of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, childcare workers ranks 440. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $40,900, tax leaves $33,318 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $30,782 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $42,580, since top earners drag the number up.
- Massachusetts ranks 3 of 51 states publishing a median for childcare workers, at $40,900 — about 16.92% 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.
- Against every occupation Massachusetts reports, childcare workers ranks 440 of 485, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After tax, $33,318 remains from the Massachusetts median of $40,900 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $30,782 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $42,580 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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: Childcare Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,790 |
| This salary | $40,900 |
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 | $33,318 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,043 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,280 |
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 | $38,753 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,385 |
| 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 childcare workers in Massachusetts earn under $40,900 and half over. The published range runs $34,130 at the tenth percentile to $49,790 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 $33,318, worked from $40,900. 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 440 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $30,782, the adjusted value of that $40,900 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 440 of 485 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for childcare workers in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,130 to $49,790; 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 $33,318, on $40,900 for work ranking 440 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 440 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $30,782 — the adjusted value of that $40,900 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 440 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 $42,580, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $34,130 at the bottom tenth to $49,790 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $30,782 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $33,318 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 $42,580. 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 ($34,130 to $49,790) 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 $30,782 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 $33,318 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.