Database Architects in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$113,991
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$47,659
29.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$105,315
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
$161,650
Kept after tax
$113,991
Worth in national money
$105,315
State rank
2
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for database architects is strong here. Massachusetts's middle earner gets $161,650, putting the state 2 of 46 — about 15.88% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 485 occupations Massachusetts reports, database architects comes in at 18 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $161,650 the take-home is $113,991. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $105,315 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $163,290, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For database architects, Massachusetts sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $161,650, ranking 2 of 46 and running about 15.88% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Database architects ranks 18 of 485 occupations by median in Massachusetts, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Massachusetts income tax is $113,991 for database architects, from $161,650. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $105,315. ⚠️ 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 $163,290 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Database Architects
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $123,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $161,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $220,910 |
| This salary | $161,650 |
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 | $113,991 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $121,754 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$19,978 |
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 | $150,293 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$28,403 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $161,650 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $123,670 and the ninetieth is $220,910 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Massachusetts the take-home figure of $113,991, from $161,650, 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 18 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 $105,315 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 18.
- The Massachusetts median of $161,650 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $123,670 to $220,910. 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 $113,991 from $161,650. 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 18 of 485 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $105,315, worked from $161,650, 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 18 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $123,670 and the top tenth $220,910, 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 $105,315 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 $113,991 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($123,670 to $220,910) 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 $105,315 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 $113,991 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.