Public Relations Managers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$120,383
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$51,357
29.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$111,221
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
$171,740
Kept after tax
$120,383
Worth in national money
$111,221
State rank
5
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts is one of the better-paying states for public relations managers. The middle earner takes $171,740, which ranks 5 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 16.9% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 485 occupations Massachusetts reports, public relations managers comes in at 15 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $171,740, tax leaves $120,383 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $111,221 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $181,950, since top earners drag the number up.
- Massachusetts ranks 5 of 48 states publishing a median for public relations managers, at $171,740 — about 16.9% 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.
- Public relations managers ranks 15 of 485 occupations by median in Massachusetts, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After tax, $120,383 remains from the Massachusetts median of $171,740 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $111,221 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $181,950 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Public Relations Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $93,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $171,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $315,920 |
| This salary | $171,740 |
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 | $120,383 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $128,650 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$21,169 |
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 | $159,645 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$30,097 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $171,740 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $93,220 and the ninetieth is $315,920 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $120,383 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $171,740. 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 15 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $111,221, the adjusted value of that $171,740 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 15 of 485 in the state.
- The Massachusetts median of $171,740 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $93,220 to $315,920. 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 $120,383, from $171,740, 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 15 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 5 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $111,221 — the adjusted value of that $171,740 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 15 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 $181,950, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $93,220 at the bottom tenth to $315,920 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $111,221 of national purchasing power.
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 $120,383.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $181,950. 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 ($93,220) and the ninetieth ($315,920) 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 $111,221 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 $120,383 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.