Manicurists and Pedicurists in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,227
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$6,243
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,002
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
$35,470
Kept after tax
$29,227
Worth in national money
$27,002
State rank
27
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts sits in the middle of the pack for manicurists and pedicurists. The median is $35,470, ranking 27 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Massachusetts, this one sits low: 480 of 485 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $35,470 the take-home is $29,227; in national-average money that behaves like $27,002. The average comes to $38,750, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Massachusetts occupies the middle band for manicurists and pedicurists: a median of $35,470, ranking 27 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Manicurists and pedicurists occupies position 480 of 485 in Massachusetts's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Take-home for manicurists and pedicurists in Massachusetts, on $35,470, is $29,227; deflated by the state's price level, $27,002. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $38,750 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Manicurists and Pedicurists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,210 |
| This salary | $35,470 |
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 | $29,227 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,680 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,570 |
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 | $33,661 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,527 |
| 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 $35,470. The published range is $33,510 up to $46,210, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $29,227 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $35,470. 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 480 of 485.
- Two cautions on $27,002, the adjusted value of that $35,470 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 480 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for manicurists and pedicurists in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $33,510 to $46,210. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $29,227, from $35,470, 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 480 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 49 for it.
- This $27,002 adjusted figure, worked from $35,470, 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 480 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 480 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 $38,750 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $33,510 at the tenth percentile, $46,210 at the ninetieth.
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 $27,002 of national purchasing power.
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 $29,227 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $38,750. 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 ($33,510 to $46,210) 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 $27,002 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 $29,227 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.