Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,073
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$9,137
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,175
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
$47,210
Kept after tax
$38,073
Worth in national money
$35,175
State rank
10
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Massachusetts's middle earner gets $47,210, putting the state 10 of 46 — about 10.38% ahead of the national figure.
- Against 485 occupations Massachusetts publishes, this job lands at 391. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $47,210 the take-home is $38,073. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $35,175 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $54,170, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood, Massachusetts sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $47,210, ranking 10 of 46 and running about 10.38% 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.
- Within Massachusetts, this work ranks 391 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 $38,073 for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood, from $47,210. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,175. ⚠️ 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 $54,170 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,430 |
| This salary | $47,210 |
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 | $38,073 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,113 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,104 |
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 | $44,670 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,383 |
| 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 sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood in Massachusetts earn under $47,210 and half over. The published range runs $43,630 at the tenth percentile to $75,430 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 $38,073, worked from $47,210. 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 391 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $35,175, the adjusted value of that $47,210 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 391 of 485 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $43,630 to $75,430; 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 $38,073, on $47,210 for work ranking 391 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 391 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $35,175 — the adjusted value of that $47,210 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 391 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 $54,170, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $43,630 and the top tenth $75,430, so most people doing this work in Massachusetts sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $35,175 — 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 $38,073.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $54,170. 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 ($43,630 to $75,430) 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 $35,175 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 $38,073 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.