Registered Nurses in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,473
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$27,077
25.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,577
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
$104,550
Kept after tax
$77,473
Worth in national money
$71,577
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Massachusetts pays registered nurses a middle wage of $104,550, ranking 8 of 51 states and sitting about 7.18% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 485 occupations Massachusetts reports, registered nurses comes in at 92 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $104,550 the take-home is $77,473; in national-average money that behaves like $71,577. The average comes to $117,960, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Massachusetts's median for registered nurses is $104,550, about 7.18% above the national figure and 8 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Registered nurses ranks 92 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.
- Take-home for registered nurses in Massachusetts, on $104,550, is $77,473; deflated by the state's price level, $71,577. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $117,960 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Registered Nurses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $80,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $174,510 |
| This salary | $104,550 |
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 | $77,473 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,381 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$13,199 |
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 | $97,574 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$18,232 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of registered nurses in Massachusetts earn under $104,550 and half over. The published range runs $80,310 at the tenth percentile to $174,510 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $77,473 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $104,550. 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 92 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $71,577 uses one figure for the whole of Massachusetts. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 485 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 92.
- Figures are distribution medians for registered nurses in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $80,310 to $174,510; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $77,473, from $104,550, 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 92 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $71,577, worked from $104,550, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Massachusetts address, on work sitting at 92 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 $117,960 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $80,310 at the bottom tenth to $174,510 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $71,577 — 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 $77,473.
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 $117,960. 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 ($80,310) and the ninetieth ($174,510) 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 $71,577 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 $77,473 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.