Prepress Technicians and Workers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,638
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$11,612
20.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,164
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
$57,250
Kept after tax
$45,638
Worth in national money
$42,164
State rank
3
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Massachusetts pays prepress technicians and workers a middle wage of $57,250, ranking 3 of 45 states and sitting about 17.58% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations Massachusetts reports figures for, this is number 324.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $57,250, tax leaves $45,638 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $42,164 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $58,340, since top earners drag the number up.
- Massachusetts's median for prepress technicians and workers is $57,250, about 17.58% above the national figure and 3 of 45 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Massachusetts's occupational distribution, prepress technicians and workers sits at 324 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.
- After tax, $45,638 remains from the Massachusetts median of $57,250 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $42,164 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $58,340 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Prepress Technicians and Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,620 |
| This salary | $57,250 |
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 | $45,638 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,180 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,417 |
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 | $54,086 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,970 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $57,250 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $44,890 and the ninetieth is $83,620 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $45,638 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $57,250. 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 324 of 485.
- Two cautions on $42,164, the adjusted value of that $57,250 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 324 of 485 locally.
- The Massachusetts median of $57,250 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $44,890 to $83,620. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $45,638, from $57,250, 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 324 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 3 of 45 for it.
- This $42,164 adjusted figure, worked from $57,250, 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 324 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 324 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $44,890 at the tenth percentile, $83,620 at the ninetieth.
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 $42,164 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Massachusetts then takes its own share, leaving $45,638.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($44,890 to $83,620) 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 $42,164 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 $45,638 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.