Pharmacy Technicians in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,515
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$8,955
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,660
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
$46,470
Kept after tax
$37,515
Worth in national money
$34,660
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Massachusetts is 21 of 51 states for pharmacy technicians, with a middle wage of $46,470. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Massachusetts this is lower-paid work. Of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, pharmacy technicians ranks 405. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $46,470 the take-home is $37,515. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $34,660 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $50,680, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Massachusetts ranks 21 of 51 for pharmacy technicians at $46,470. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Massachusetts reports, pharmacy technicians ranks 405 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Massachusetts income tax is $37,515 for pharmacy technicians, from $46,470. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,660. ⚠️ 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 $50,680 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Pharmacy Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,070 |
| This salary | $46,470 |
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 | $37,515 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,519 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,008 |
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 | $43,977 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,266 |
| 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 $46,470. The published range is $37,980 up to $71,070, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $37,515 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $46,470. 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 405 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,660, the adjusted value of that $46,470 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 405 of 485 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for pharmacy technicians in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,980 to $71,070. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $37,515, from $46,470, 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 405 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $34,660 — the adjusted value of that $46,470 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 405 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 $50,680 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $37,980 at the bottom tenth to $71,070 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $34,660 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 $37,515 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $50,680. 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 ($37,980 to $71,070) 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 $34,660 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 $37,515 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.