Respiratory Therapists in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,918
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$26,252
25.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,140
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
$102,170
Kept after tax
$75,918
Worth in national money
$70,140
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for respiratory therapists is strong here. Massachusetts's middle earner gets $102,170, putting the state 4 of 51 — about 24.17% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 485 occupations Massachusetts reports, respiratory therapists comes in at 101 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $102,170, tax leaves $75,918 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $70,140 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $100,580.
- For respiratory therapists, Massachusetts sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $102,170, ranking 4 of 51 and running about 24.17% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Respiratory therapists ranks 101 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, $75,918 remains from the Massachusetts median of $102,170 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $70,140 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $100,580 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Respiratory Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $80,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $102,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,930 |
| This salary | $102,170 |
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 | $75,918 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,707 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,913 |
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 | $95,363 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$17,837 |
| 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 respiratory therapists in Massachusetts earn under $102,170 and half over. The published range runs $80,330 at the tenth percentile to $123,930 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Massachusetts's $75,918, worked from $102,170. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 101 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $70,140 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 101.
- Figures are distribution medians for respiratory therapists in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $80,330 to $123,930; 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.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $75,918, on $102,170 for work ranking 101 of 485 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 101 of 485 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $70,140, worked from $102,170, 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 101 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $80,330 at the bottom tenth to $123,930 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $70,140 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $75,918 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($80,330 to $123,930) 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 $70,140 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 $75,918 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.