Library Technicians in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,499
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$9,931
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,417
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
$50,430
Kept after tax
$40,499
Worth in national money
$37,417
State rank
7
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for library technicians is strong here. Massachusetts's middle earner gets $50,430, putting the state 7 of 51 — about 13.12% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations Massachusetts reports figures for, this is number 351.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $50,430 the take-home is $40,499. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $37,417 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $53,100, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For library technicians, Massachusetts sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $50,430, ranking 7 of 51 and running about 13.12% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Massachusetts's occupational distribution, library technicians sits at 351 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Massachusetts income tax is $40,499 for library technicians, from $50,430. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $37,417. ⚠️ 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 $53,100 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: Library Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,450 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,980 |
| This salary | $50,430 |
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 | $40,499 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,701 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,525 |
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 | $47,690 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,892 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,430 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,450 and the ninetieth is $64,980 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Massachusetts the take-home figure of $40,499, from $50,430, 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 351 of 485 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,417, the adjusted value of that $50,430 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 351 of 485 in the state.
- The Massachusetts median of $50,430 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,450 to $64,980. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Massachusetts is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $40,499 from $50,430. 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 351 of 485 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $37,417 — the adjusted value of that $50,430 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 351 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $53,100 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $38,450 and the top tenth $64,980, so most people doing this work in Massachusetts sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $37,417 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 $40,499.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $53,100. 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 ($38,450 to $64,980) 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 $37,417 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 $40,499 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.