Network and Computer Systems Administrators in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$81,675
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$29,305
26.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,459
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
$110,980
Kept after tax
$81,675
Worth in national money
$75,459
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Massachusetts's middle earner gets $110,980, putting the state 3 of 51 — about 11.95% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Massachusetts. It ranks 72 out of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $110,980 the take-home is $81,675. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $75,459 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $118,240, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For network and computer systems administrators, Massachusetts sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $110,980, ranking 3 of 51 and running about 11.95% 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, network and computer systems administrators ranks 72 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 $81,675 for network and computer systems administrators, from $110,980. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $75,459. ⚠️ 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 $118,240 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: Network and Computer Systems Administrators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $110,980 |
| Top tenth earn over | $168,910 |
| This salary | $110,980 |
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 | $81,675 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $86,904 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$13,972 |
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 | $103,547 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$19,299 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $110,980 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $76,750 and the ninetieth is $168,910 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Massachusetts's $81,675, worked from $110,980. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 72 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $75,459, the adjusted value of that $110,980 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 72 of 485 in the state.
- The Massachusetts median of $110,980 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $76,750 to $168,910. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $81,675, on $110,980 for work ranking 72 of 485 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 72 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $75,459 — the adjusted value of that $110,980 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 72 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 $118,240, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $76,750 and the top tenth $168,910 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $75,459 rather than its face figure.
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, $81,675 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 $118,240. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($76,750) and the ninetieth ($168,910) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $75,459 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 $81,675 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.