Rehabilitation Counselors in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,156
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$9,164
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,252
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
$47,320
Kept after tax
$38,156
Worth in national money
$35,252
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Massachusetts pays rehabilitation counselors around $47,320 at the midpoint, 29 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 485 occupations Massachusetts publishes, rehabilitation counselors lands at 387. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $47,320 the take-home is $38,156. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $35,252 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $59,030, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For rehabilitation counselors the Massachusetts median is $47,320, ranking 29 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.
- Within Massachusetts, this work ranks 387 of 485 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Massachusetts income tax is $38,156 for rehabilitation counselors, from $47,320. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,252. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $59,030 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Rehabilitation Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $101,760 |
| This salary | $47,320 |
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 | $38,156 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,202 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,119 |
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 | $44,774 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,400 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,320 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,770 and the ninetieth is $101,760 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $38,156 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $47,320. 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 387 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,252 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 387.
- The Massachusetts median of $47,320 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,770 to $101,760. 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 $38,156, from $47,320, 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 387 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,252, worked from $47,320, 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 387 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 $59,030, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $38,770 and the top tenth $101,760 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $35,252 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Massachusetts adds its own income tax on top — which is why $38,156 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $59,030. 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 ($38,770) and the ninetieth ($101,760) 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 $35,252 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 $38,156 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.