Dentists, General in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$126,630
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$54,970
30.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$116,992
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
$181,600
Kept after tax
$126,630
Worth in national money
$116,992
State rank
15
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for dentists, general is strong here. Massachusetts's middle earner gets $181,600, putting the state 15 of 47 — about 6.23% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 485 occupations Massachusetts reports, dentists, general comes in at 13 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $181,600 the take-home is $126,630. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $116,992 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $223,200, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For dentists, general, Massachusetts sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $181,600, ranking 15 of 47 and running about 6.23% 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.
- Dentists, general ranks 13 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 $126,630 for dentists, general, from $181,600. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $116,992. ⚠️ 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 $223,200 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dentists, General
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $101,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $181,600 |
| Top tenth earn over | $417,670 |
| This salary | $181,600 |
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 | $126,630 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $135,390 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$22,334 |
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 | $168,784 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$31,752 |
| 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 dentists, general in Massachusetts earn under $181,600 and half over. The published range runs $101,470 at the tenth percentile to $417,670 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Massachusetts the take-home figure of $126,630, from $181,600, 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 13 of 485 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $116,992, the adjusted value of that $181,600 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 13 of 485 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for dentists, general in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $101,470 to $417,670; 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.
- Take-home for Massachusetts is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $126,630 from $181,600. 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 13 of 485 locally.
- This $116,992 adjusted figure, worked from $181,600, 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 13 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 13 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 $223,200, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $101,470 at the bottom tenth to $417,670 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $116,992 — 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 $126,630 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 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 $223,200. 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 ($101,470) and the ninetieth ($417,670) 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 $116,992 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 $126,630 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.