Dental Hygienists in Massachusetts

A stethoscope and folded scrubs in a sunlit clinical workspace.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$74,918

after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax

Tax takes

$25,722

25.6% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$69,216

Massachusetts costs more than average

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

$100,640

Kept after tax

$74,918

Worth in national money

$69,216

State rank

16

of 50 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Massachusetts is one of the better-paying states for dental hygienists. The middle earner takes $100,640, which ranks 16 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 2.59% above the national middle.
  • Within Massachusetts this is well-paid work. Of 485 occupations with published figures in the state, dental hygienists ranks 111 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
  • Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $100,640 the take-home is $74,918; in national-average money that behaves like $69,216. The average comes to $102,160, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
  • Massachusetts ranks 16 of 50 states publishing a median for dental hygienists, at $100,640 — about 2.59% 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.
  • Ranked against every occupation Massachusetts publishes a median for, dental hygienists sits 111 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.
  • Take-home for dental hygienists in Massachusetts, on $100,640, is $74,918; deflated by the state's price level, $69,216. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $102,160 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Dental Hygienists

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$93,510
Half earn under$100,640
Top tenth earn over$117,380
This salary$100,640

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

Compare with
+$4,712take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Massachusetts$74,918
Take-home in Texas$79,630
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity+$12,729

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

Moving to
$0now · $100,640$83,057
$83,057in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$93,942
You could take a cut of−$17,583
Prices in Texas97 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 dental hygienists in Massachusetts earn under $100,640 and half over. The published range runs $93,510 at the tenth percentile to $117,380 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 $74,918, worked from $100,640. 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 111 of 485.
  • The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $69,216 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 111.
  • Figures are distribution medians for dental hygienists in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $93,510 to $117,380; 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 $74,918, on $100,640 for work ranking 111 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 111 of 485 in the state.
  • Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $69,216, worked from $100,640, 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 111 of 485 locally.

Questions people ask

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $93,510 and the top tenth $117,380, 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 $69,216 — 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 $74,918 of this wage survives to your account.

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.

What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($93,510 to $117,380) 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 $69,216 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 $74,918 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.