Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,347
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$8,573
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,581
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
$44,920
Kept after tax
$36,347
Worth in national money
$33,581
State rank
6
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 $44,920, ranking 6 of 51 states and sitting about 11.63% above the national middle.
- Against 485 occupations Massachusetts publishes, this job lands at 415. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $44,920 the take-home is $36,347. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $33,581 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $45,760, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Massachusetts's median for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand is $44,920, about 11.63% above the national figure and 6 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.
- Within Massachusetts, this work ranks 415 of 485 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Massachusetts income tax is $36,347 for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand, from $44,920. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $33,581. ⚠️ 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 $45,760 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,270 |
| This salary | $44,920 |
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 | $36,347 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,273 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,805 |
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 | $42,523 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,021 |
| 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 laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand in Massachusetts earn under $44,920 and half over. The published range runs $36,470 at the tenth percentile to $58,270 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $36,347 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $44,920. 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 415 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,581 uses one figure for the whole of Massachusetts. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 485 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 415.
- Figures are distribution medians for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,470 to $58,270; 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 $36,347, from $44,920, 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 415 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,581, worked from $44,920, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Massachusetts address, on work sitting at 415 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,470 and the top tenth $58,270, 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 $33,581 rather than its face figure.
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 $36,347.
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 ($36,470 to $58,270) 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 $33,581 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 $36,347 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.