Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,173
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$9,497
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,191
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
$48,670
Kept after tax
$39,173
Worth in national money
$36,191
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Massachusetts pays landscaping and groundskeeping workers a middle wage of $48,670, ranking 2 of 51 states and sitting about 24.32% above the national middle.
- Within Massachusetts this is lower-paid work. Of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, landscaping and groundskeeping workers ranks 373. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $48,670, tax leaves $39,173 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $36,191 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $50,540, since top earners drag the number up.
- Massachusetts's median for landscaping and groundskeeping workers is $48,670, about 24.32% above the national figure and 2 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, landscaping and groundskeeping workers ranks 373 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, $39,173 remains from the Massachusetts median of $48,670 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $36,191 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $50,540 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,170 |
| This salary | $48,670 |
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 | $39,173 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,286 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,295 |
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 | $46,040 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,613 |
| 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 $48,670. The published range is $37,800 up to $62,170, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Massachusetts the take-home figure of $39,173, from $48,670, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 373 of 485 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $36,191, the adjusted value of that $48,670 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 373 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for landscaping and groundskeeping workers in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,800 to $62,170. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Massachusetts is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,173 from $48,670. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 373 of 485 locally.
- This $36,191 adjusted figure, worked from $48,670, 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 373 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 373 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 $50,540, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $37,800 at the bottom tenth to $62,170 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 $36,191 of national purchasing power.
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, $39,173 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.
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 $50,540. 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 ($37,800 to $62,170) 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 $36,191 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 $39,173 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.