Court, Municipal, and License Clerks in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,014
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$12,716
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,283
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
$61,730
Kept after tax
$49,014
Worth in national money
$45,283
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts is one of the better-paying states for court, municipal, and license clerks. The middle earner takes $61,730, which ranks 4 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 26.76% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Massachusetts, this sits in the middle: 279 of 485 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $61,730 the take-home is $49,014. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $45,283 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $64,540, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Massachusetts ranks 4 of 51 states publishing a median for court, municipal, and license clerks, at $61,730 — about 26.76% 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.
- Court, municipal, and license clerks ranks 279 of 485 occupations in Massachusetts by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Massachusetts income tax is $49,014 for court, municipal, and license clerks, from $61,730. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $45,283. ⚠️ 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 $64,540 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Court, Municipal, and License Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,390 |
| This salary | $61,730 |
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 | $49,014 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,780 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,002 |
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 | $58,287 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,678 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,730 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,860 and the ninetieth is $84,390 — 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 $49,014, worked from $61,730. 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 279 of 485.
- Two cautions on $45,283, the adjusted value of that $61,730 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Massachusetts. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 279 of 485 locally.
- The Massachusetts median of $61,730 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,860 to $84,390. 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 $49,014, on $61,730 for work ranking 279 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 279 of 485 in the state.
- This $45,283 adjusted figure, worked from $61,730, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 279 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 279 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 $64,540, 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 $47,860 and the top tenth $84,390, so most people doing this work in Massachusetts sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $45,283 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $49,014.
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 $64,540. 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 ($47,860 to $84,390) 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 $45,283 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 $49,014 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.