Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,229
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$14,221
21.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,177
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
$67,450
Kept after tax
$53,229
Worth in national money
$49,177
State rank
38
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $67,450, ranking 38 of 49 states — about 13.91% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Massachusetts, this sits in the middle: 245 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 $67,450 the take-home is $53,229. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $49,177 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $70,620, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Massachusetts ranks 38 of 49 for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other, with a median of $67,450 — about 13.91% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other ranks 245 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 $53,229 for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other, from $67,450. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $49,177. ⚠️ 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 $70,620 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $67,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $96,930 |
| This salary | $67,450 |
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 | $53,229 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,281 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,740 |
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 | $63,533 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,688 |
| 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 engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other in Massachusetts earn under $67,450 and half over. The published range runs $47,280 at the tenth percentile to $96,930 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 $53,229, worked from $67,450. 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 245 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $49,177, the adjusted value of that $67,450 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 245 of 485 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,280 to $96,930; 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 $53,229, on $67,450 for work ranking 245 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 245 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $49,177 — the adjusted value of that $67,450 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 245 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 $70,620 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $47,280, the highest tenth $96,930, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $49,177 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 $53,229 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $70,620. 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 ($47,280) and the ninetieth ($96,930) 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 $49,177 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 $53,229 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.