Fence Erectors in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,992
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$9,438
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,024
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
$48,430
Kept after tax
$38,992
Worth in national money
$36,024
State rank
18
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Massachusetts pays fence erectors around $48,430 at the midpoint, 18 of 45 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Measured against other jobs in Massachusetts, this one sits low: 374 of 485 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $48,430, tax leaves $38,992 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $36,024 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $54,590, since top earners drag the number up.
- For fence erectors the Massachusetts median is $48,430, ranking 18 of 45 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Fence erectors occupies position 374 of 485 in Massachusetts's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After tax, $38,992 remains from the Massachusetts median of $48,430 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $36,024 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $54,590 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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: Fence Erectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,420 |
| This salary | $48,430 |
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 | $38,992 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,094 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,264 |
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 | $45,815 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,575 |
| 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 fence erectors in Massachusetts earn under $48,430 and half over. The published range runs $42,960 at the tenth percentile to $77,420 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Massachusetts the take-home figure of $38,992, from $48,430, 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 374 of 485 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,024, the adjusted value of that $48,430 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 374 of 485 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for fence erectors in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,960 to $77,420; 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 $38,992 from $48,430. 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 374 of 485 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $36,024 — the adjusted value of that $48,430 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 374 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 $54,590 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,960 at the bottom tenth to $77,420 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $36,024 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 $38,992 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $54,590. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,960 to $77,420) 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 $36,024 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 $38,992 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.