Hazardous Materials Removal Workers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,889
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$9,731
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,853
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
$49,620
Kept after tax
$39,889
Worth in national money
$36,853
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Massachusetts pays this job around $49,620 at the midpoint, 22 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 363 among 485 occupations Massachusetts publishes pay for.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $49,620 the take-home is $39,889; in national-average money that behaves like $36,853. The average comes to $52,820, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For hazardous materials removal workers the Massachusetts median is $49,620, ranking 22 of 51 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.
- Position 363 of 485 in Massachusetts places hazardous materials removal workers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Take-home for hazardous materials removal workers in Massachusetts, on $49,620, is $39,889; deflated by the state's price level, $36,853. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $52,820 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Hazardous Materials Removal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,870 |
| This salary | $49,620 |
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 | $39,889 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,050 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,419 |
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 | $46,931 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,764 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $49,620 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,220 and the ninetieth is $65,870 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $39,889 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $49,620. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 363 of 485.
- Two cautions on $36,853, the adjusted value of that $49,620 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 363 of 485 locally.
- The Massachusetts median of $49,620 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,220 to $65,870. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $39,889, from $49,620, assumes a single Massachusetts filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 363 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 51 for it.
- This $36,853 adjusted figure, worked from $49,620, 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 363 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 363 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 $52,820, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,220 at the tenth percentile, $65,870 at the ninetieth.
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 $36,853 of national purchasing power.
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, $39,889 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 $52,820. 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 ($46,220 to $65,870) 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 $36,853 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 $39,889 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.