Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,666
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$17,634
22.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,124
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
$77,300
Kept after tax
$59,666
Worth in national money
$55,124
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $77,300, which ranks 4 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 26.7% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Massachusetts, this sits in the middle: 204 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 $77,300 the take-home is $59,666. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $55,124 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $77,760, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Massachusetts ranks 4 of 51 states publishing a median for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers, at $77,300 — about 26.7% 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.
- Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers ranks 204 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 $59,666 for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers, from $77,300. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $55,124. ⚠️ 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 $77,760 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,410 |
| This salary | $77,300 |
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 | $59,666 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,211 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,924 |
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 | $72,261 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,346 |
| 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 $77,300. The published range is $50,820 up to $102,410, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Massachusetts the take-home figure of $59,666, from $77,300, 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 204 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 $55,124, the adjusted value of that $77,300 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 204 of 485 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,820 to $102,410. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Massachusetts is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $59,666 from $77,300. 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 204 of 485 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $55,124 — the adjusted value of that $77,300 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 204 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $50,820 and the top tenth $102,410, so most people doing this work in Massachusetts sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $55,124 rather than its face figure.
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, $59,666 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($50,820 to $102,410) 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 $55,124 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 $59,666 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.