Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,842
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$6,118
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,647
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
$34,960
Kept after tax
$28,842
Worth in national money
$26,647
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Massachusetts pays this job a middle wage of $34,960, ranking 9 of 51 states and sitting about 12.05% above the national middle.
- Within Massachusetts this is lower-paid work. Of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 482. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $34,960, tax leaves $28,842 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $26,647 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $35,420, since top earners drag the number up.
- Massachusetts's median for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop is $34,960, about 12.05% above the national figure and 9 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation Massachusetts reports, hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop ranks 482 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.
- After tax, $28,842 remains from the Massachusetts median of $34,960 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $26,647 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $35,420 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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: Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $41,740 |
| This salary | $34,960 |
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 | $28,842 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,270 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,503 |
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 | $33,183 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,446 |
| 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 hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop in Massachusetts earn under $34,960 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $41,740 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $28,842 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $34,960. 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 482 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $26,647, the adjusted value of that $34,960 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 482 of 485 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $41,740; 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.
- Retained pay of $28,842, from $34,960, 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 482 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $26,647 — the adjusted value of that $34,960 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 482 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $41,740 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $26,647 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 $28,842.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $41,740) 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 $26,647 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 $28,842 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.