Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,575
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$11,265
20.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,183
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
$55,840
Kept after tax
$44,575
Worth in national money
$41,183
State rank
7
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 $55,840, ranking 7 of 51 states and sitting about 10.33% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 332 among 485 occupations Massachusetts publishes pay for.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $55,840 the take-home is $44,575; in national-average money that behaves like $41,183. The average comes to $56,100, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Massachusetts's median for human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping is $55,840, about 10.33% above the national figure and 7 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.
- Position 332 of 485 in Massachusetts places human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping 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 human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping in Massachusetts, on $55,840, is $44,575; deflated by the state's price level, $41,183. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $56,100 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,130 |
| This salary | $55,840 |
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 | $44,575 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,047 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,232 |
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 | $52,763 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,747 |
| 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 $55,840. The published range is $42,970 up to $71,130, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $44,575 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $55,840. 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 332 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $41,183, the adjusted value of that $55,840 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 332 of 485 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $42,970 to $71,130. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $44,575, from $55,840, 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 332 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 7 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $41,183 — the adjusted value of that $55,840 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 332 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $42,970 at the tenth percentile, $71,130 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Massachusetts run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $41,183 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $44,575 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 ($42,970 to $71,130) 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 $41,183 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 $44,575 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.