Healthcare Social Workers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,104
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$17,336
22.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,605
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
$76,440
Kept after tax
$59,104
Worth in national money
$54,605
State rank
12
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts is one of the better-paying states for healthcare social workers. The middle earner takes $76,440, which ranks 12 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 12.61% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Massachusetts, this sits in the middle: 211 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 $76,440 the take-home is $59,104. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $54,605 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $77,000, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Massachusetts ranks 12 of 51 states publishing a median for healthcare social workers, at $76,440 — about 12.61% 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.
- Healthcare social workers ranks 211 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 $59,104 for healthcare social workers, from $76,440. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,605. ⚠️ 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 $77,000 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Healthcare Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,070 |
| This salary | $76,440 |
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 | $59,104 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,606 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,820 |
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 | $71,462 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,114 |
| 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 $76,440. The published range is $51,270 up to $102,070, 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 $59,104, worked from $76,440. 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 211 of 485.
- Two cautions on $54,605, the adjusted value of that $76,440 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 211 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for healthcare social workers in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $51,270 to $102,070. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $59,104, on $76,440 for work ranking 211 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 211 of 485 in the state.
- This $54,605 adjusted figure, worked from $76,440, 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 211 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 211 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $51,270 at the bottom tenth to $102,070 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $54,605 rather than its face figure.
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 $59,104 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($51,270 to $102,070) 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 $54,605 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 $59,104 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.