Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,737
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$18,203
23.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,115
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
$78,940
Kept after tax
$60,737
Worth in national money
$56,115
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $78,940, which ranks 15 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 3.58% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations Massachusetts reports figures for, this is number 193.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $78,940 the take-home is $60,737; in national-average money that behaves like $56,115. The average comes to $83,230, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Massachusetts ranks 15 of 51 states publishing a median for police and sheriff's patrol officers, at $78,940 — about 3.58% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In Massachusetts's occupational distribution, police and sheriff's patrol officers sits at 193 of 485 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Take-home for police and sheriff's patrol officers in Massachusetts, on $78,940, is $60,737; deflated by the state's price level, $56,115. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $83,230 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $108,150 |
| This salary | $78,940 |
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 | $60,737 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,364 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,121 |
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 | $73,784 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,788 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $78,940 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $61,160 and the ninetieth is $108,150 — 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 $60,737, worked from $78,940. 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 193 of 485.
- Two cautions on $56,115, the adjusted value of that $78,940 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 193 of 485 locally.
- The Massachusetts median of $78,940 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $61,160 to $108,150. 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 $60,737, on $78,940 for work ranking 193 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 193 of 485 in the state.
- This $56,115 adjusted figure, worked from $78,940, 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 193 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 193 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 $83,230 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 — $61,160 at the tenth percentile, $108,150 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 $56,115 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, $60,737 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 $83,230. 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 ($61,160 to $108,150) 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 $56,115 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 $60,737 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.