Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,849
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$7,101
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,425
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
$38,950
Kept after tax
$31,849
Worth in national money
$29,425
State rank
7
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for maids and housekeeping cleaners is strong here. Massachusetts's middle earner gets $38,950, putting the state 7 of 51 — about 9.69% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Massachusetts this is lower-paid work. Of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, maids and housekeeping cleaners ranks 449. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $38,950 the take-home is $31,849; in national-average money that behaves like $29,425. The average comes to $42,390, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For maids and housekeeping cleaners, Massachusetts sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $38,950, ranking 7 of 51 and running about 9.69% 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.
- Against every occupation Massachusetts reports, maids and housekeeping cleaners ranks 449 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.
- Take-home for maids and housekeeping cleaners in Massachusetts, on $38,950, is $31,849; deflated by the state's price level, $29,425. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $42,390 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,900 |
| This salary | $38,950 |
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 | $31,849 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,476 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,025 |
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 | $36,924 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,077 |
| 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 maids and housekeeping cleaners in Massachusetts earn under $38,950 and half over. The published range runs $34,320 at the tenth percentile to $60,900 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $31,849 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $38,950. 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 449 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,425 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 449.
- Figures are distribution medians for maids and housekeeping cleaners in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,320 to $60,900; 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 $31,849, from $38,950, 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 449 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 7 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,425, worked from $38,950, 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 449 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 $42,390, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $34,320 and the top tenth $60,900, so most people doing this work in Massachusetts sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $29,425 — 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, $31,849 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 $42,390. 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 ($34,320 to $60,900) 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 $29,425 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 $31,849 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.