Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,777
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$15,573
21.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,532
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
$71,350
Kept after tax
$55,777
Worth in national money
$51,532
State rank
12
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $71,350, which ranks 12 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 9.85% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 233 among 485 occupations Massachusetts publishes pay for.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $71,350 the take-home is $55,777; in national-average money that behaves like $51,532. The average comes to $74,120, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Massachusetts ranks 12 of 50 states publishing a median for civil engineering technologists and technicians, at $71,350 — about 9.85% 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.
- Position 233 of 485 in Massachusetts places civil engineering technologists and technicians 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 civil engineering technologists and technicians in Massachusetts, on $71,350, is $55,777; deflated by the state's price level, $51,532. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $74,120 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $71,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $106,650 |
| This salary | $71,350 |
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 | $55,777 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,025 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,209 |
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 | $66,734 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,741 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $71,350 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $49,110 and the ninetieth is $106,650 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Massachusetts the take-home figure of $55,777, from $71,350, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 233 of 485 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $51,532 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 233.
- The Massachusetts median of $71,350 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $49,110 to $106,650. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Massachusetts is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $55,777 from $71,350. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 233 of 485 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $51,532, worked from $71,350, 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 233 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 $74,120 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $49,110 at the bottom tenth to $106,650 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $51,532 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Massachusetts then takes its own share, leaving $55,777.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 $74,120. 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 ($49,110) and the ninetieth ($106,650) 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 $51,532 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 $55,777 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.