Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,409
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$9,901
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,333
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
$50,310
Kept after tax
$40,409
Worth in national money
$37,333
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Massachusetts pays this job around $50,310 at the midpoint, 20 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 354 among 485 occupations Massachusetts publishes pay for.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $50,310 the take-home is $40,409; in national-average money that behaves like $37,333. The average comes to $54,230, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For refuse and recyclable material collectors the Massachusetts median is $50,310, ranking 20 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 354 of 485 in Massachusetts places refuse and recyclable material collectors in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Take-home for refuse and recyclable material collectors in Massachusetts, on $50,310, is $40,409; deflated by the state's price level, $37,333. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $54,230 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,090 |
| This salary | $50,310 |
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 | $40,409 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,604 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,510 |
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 | $47,578 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,873 |
| 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 $50,310. The published range is $39,180 up to $73,090, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $40,409 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $50,310. 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 354 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,333, the adjusted value of that $50,310 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 354 of 485 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for refuse and recyclable material collectors in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,180 to $73,090. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $40,409, from $50,310, 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 354 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $37,333 — the adjusted value of that $50,310 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 354 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $54,230, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $39,180 at the tenth percentile, $73,090 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Massachusetts run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $37,333 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $40,409.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $54,230. 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 ($39,180 to $73,090) 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 $37,333 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 $40,409 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.