Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,598
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$6,692
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,269
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
$37,290
Kept after tax
$30,598
Worth in national money
$28,269
State rank
14
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $37,290, which ranks 14 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 4.19% above the national middle.
- Against 485 occupations Massachusetts publishes, this job lands at 466. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $37,290 the take-home is $30,598; in national-average money that behaves like $28,269. The average comes to $49,700, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Massachusetts ranks 14 of 50 states publishing a median for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists, at $37,290 — about 4.19% 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.
- Within Massachusetts, this work ranks 466 of 485 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Take-home for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Massachusetts, on $37,290, is $30,598; deflated by the state's price level, $28,269. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $49,700 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,330 |
| This salary | $37,290 |
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 | $30,598 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,143 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,808 |
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 | $35,368 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,814 |
| 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 hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Massachusetts earn under $37,290 and half over. The published range runs $31,600 at the tenth percentile to $79,330 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 $30,598, worked from $37,290. 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 466 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $28,269, the adjusted value of that $37,290 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 466 of 485 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,600 to $79,330; 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 $30,598, on $37,290 for work ranking 466 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 466 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $28,269 — the adjusted value of that $37,290 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 466 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 $49,700, 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 $31,600 at the bottom tenth to $79,330 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $28,269 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Massachusetts then takes its own share, leaving $30,598.
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.
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 $49,700. 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 ($31,600) and the ninetieth ($79,330) 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 $28,269 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 $30,598 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.