Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,462
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$11,228
20.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,078
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
$55,690
Kept after tax
$44,462
Worth in national money
$41,078
State rank
10
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Massachusetts's middle earner gets $55,690, putting the state 10 of 51 — about 10.63% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations Massachusetts reports figures for, this is number 334.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $55,690, tax leaves $44,462 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $41,078 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $60,350, since top earners drag the number up.
- For dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance, Massachusetts sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $55,690, ranking 10 of 51 and running about 10.63% 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.
- In Massachusetts's occupational distribution, dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance sits at 334 of 485 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After tax, $44,462 remains from the Massachusetts median of $55,690 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $41,078 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $60,350 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,150 |
| This salary | $55,690 |
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 | $44,462 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,927 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,213 |
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 | $52,623 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,723 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Massachusetts earn less than $55,690. The published range is $42,460 up to $84,150, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Massachusetts's $44,462, worked from $55,690. 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 334 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,078 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 334.
- Reported values are medians; for dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $42,460 to $84,150. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $44,462, on $55,690 for work ranking 334 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 334 of 485 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,078, worked from $55,690, 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 334 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 $60,350 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 $42,460 at the bottom tenth to $84,150 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 $41,078 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Massachusetts's own levy, $44,462 remains.
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 $60,350. 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 ($42,460) and the ninetieth ($84,150) 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 $41,078 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 $44,462 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.