Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,910
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$8,430
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,177
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
$44,340
Kept after tax
$35,910
Worth in national money
$33,177
State rank
18
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Massachusetts is 18 of 48 states for this job, with a middle wage of $44,340. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Massachusetts this is lower-paid work. Of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 418. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $44,340 the take-home is $35,910; in national-average money that behaves like $33,177. The average comes to $46,000, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Massachusetts ranks 18 of 48 for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters at $44,340. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Massachusetts reports, helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters ranks 418 of 485, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Take-home for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Massachusetts, on $44,340, is $35,910; deflated by the state's price level, $33,177. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $46,000 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,860 |
| This salary | $44,340 |
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 | $35,910 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,807 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,729 |
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 | $41,979 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,929 |
| 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 $44,340. The published range is $38,570 up to $58,860, 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 $35,910, worked from $44,340. 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 418 of 485.
- Two cautions on $33,177, the adjusted value of that $44,340 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 418 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,570 to $58,860. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $35,910, on $44,340 for work ranking 418 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 418 of 485 in the state.
- This $33,177 adjusted figure, worked from $44,340, 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 418 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 418 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $46,000, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,570 at the tenth percentile, $58,860 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 $33,177 of national purchasing power.
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 $35,910.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 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 $46,000. 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 ($38,570 to $58,860) 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 $33,177 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 $35,910 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.