Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,974
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$10,086
19.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,855
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
$51,060
Kept after tax
$40,974
Worth in national money
$37,855
State rank
22
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Massachusetts pays this job around $51,060 at the midpoint, 22 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations Massachusetts reports figures for, this is number 348.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $51,060, tax leaves $40,974 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $37,855 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $54,890, since top earners drag the number up.
- For jewelers and precious stone and metal workers the Massachusetts median is $51,060, ranking 22 of 47 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Massachusetts's occupational distribution, jewelers and precious stone and metal workers sits at 348 of 485 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After tax, $40,974 remains from the Massachusetts median of $51,060 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $37,855 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $54,890 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,000 |
| This salary | $51,060 |
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 | $40,974 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,207 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,608 |
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 | $48,281 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,991 |
| 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 jewelers and precious stone and metal workers in Massachusetts earn under $51,060 and half over. The published range runs $36,510 at the tenth percentile to $79,000 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $40,974 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $51,060. 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 348 of 485.
- Two cautions on $37,855, the adjusted value of that $51,060 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 348 of 485 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for jewelers and precious stone and metal workers in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,510 to $79,000; 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 $40,974, from $51,060, 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 348 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 47 for it.
- This $37,855 adjusted figure, worked from $51,060, 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 348 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 348 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $54,890, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,510 at the bottom tenth to $79,000 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $37,855 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 $40,974 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $54,890. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($36,510) and the ninetieth ($79,000) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $37,855 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 $40,974 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.