Natural Sciences Managers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$181,488
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$85,802
32.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$167,675
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
$267,290
Kept after tax
$181,488
Worth in national money
$167,675
State rank
1
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for natural sciences managers is strong here. Massachusetts's middle earner gets $267,290, putting the state 1 of 48 — about 59.84% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Massachusetts. It ranks 2 out of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $267,290 the take-home is $181,488. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $167,675 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $257,010, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For natural sciences managers, Massachusetts sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $267,290, ranking 1 of 48 and running about 59.84% 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.
- Within Massachusetts, natural sciences managers ranks 2 of 485 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Massachusetts income tax is $181,488 for natural sciences managers, from $267,290. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $167,675. ⚠️ 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 $257,010 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Natural Sciences Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $153,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $267,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $329,820 |
| This salary | $267,290 |
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 | $181,488 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $194,533 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$32,513 |
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 | $247,420 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$48,126 |
| 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 $267,290. The published range is $153,490 up to $329,820, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Massachusetts the take-home figure of $181,488, from $267,290, 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 2 of 485 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $167,675, the adjusted value of that $267,290 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 2 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for natural sciences managers in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $153,490 to $329,820. 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 $181,488 from $267,290. 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 2 of 485 locally.
- This $167,675 adjusted figure, worked from $267,290, 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 2 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 2 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 $257,010 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 $153,490 and the top tenth $329,820, 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 $167,675 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, $181,488 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $257,010. 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 ($153,490 to $329,820) 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 $167,675 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 $181,488 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.