Retail Salespersons in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,086
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$6,524
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,796
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
$36,610
Kept after tax
$30,086
Worth in national money
$27,796
State rank
11
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Massachusetts pays retail salespersons a middle wage of $36,610, ranking 11 of 51 states and sitting about 3.39% above the national middle.
- Within Massachusetts this is lower-paid work. Of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, retail salespersons ranks 473. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $36,610, tax leaves $30,086 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $27,796 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $39,970, since top earners drag the number up.
- Massachusetts's median for retail salespersons is $36,610, about 3.39% above the national figure and 11 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.
- Against every occupation Massachusetts reports, retail salespersons ranks 473 of 485, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After tax, $30,086 remains from the Massachusetts median of $36,610 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $27,796 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $39,970 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Retail Salespersons
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,980 |
| This salary | $36,610 |
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 | $30,086 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,596 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,719 |
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 | $34,730 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,707 |
| 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 retail salespersons in Massachusetts earn under $36,610 and half over. The published range runs $33,310 at the tenth percentile to $47,980 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 $30,086, worked from $36,610. 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 473 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,796 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 473.
- Figures are distribution medians for retail salespersons in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,310 to $47,980; 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 $30,086, on $36,610 for work ranking 473 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 473 of 485 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,796, worked from $36,610, 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 473 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 $39,970 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $33,310 at the bottom tenth to $47,980 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 $27,796 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Massachusetts's own levy, $30,086 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $39,970. 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 ($33,310 to $47,980) 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 $27,796 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 $30,086 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.