Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,496
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$10,584
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,261
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
$53,080
Kept after tax
$42,496
Worth in national money
$39,261
State rank
18
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Massachusetts pays this job around $53,080 at the midpoint, 18 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations Massachusetts reports figures for, this is number 341.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $53,080, tax leaves $42,496 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $39,261 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $56,940, since top earners drag the number up.
- For septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners the Massachusetts median is $53,080, ranking 18 of 49 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.
- In Massachusetts's occupational distribution, septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners sits at 341 of 485 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After tax, $42,496 remains from the Massachusetts median of $53,080 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $39,261 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $56,940 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,240 |
| This salary | $53,080 |
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 | $42,496 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,830 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,872 |
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 | $50,175 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,311 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $53,080 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $44,670 and the ninetieth is $73,240 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Massachusetts's $42,496, worked from $53,080. 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 341 of 485.
- Two cautions on $39,261, the adjusted value of that $53,080 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Massachusetts. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 341 of 485 locally.
- The Massachusetts median of $53,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $44,670 to $73,240. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $42,496, on $53,080 for work ranking 341 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 341 of 485 in the state.
- This $39,261 adjusted figure, worked from $53,080, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 341 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 341 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 $56,940, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $44,670 at the bottom tenth to $73,240 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $39,261 rather than its face figure.
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 $42,496.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $56,940. 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 ($44,670 to $73,240) 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 $39,261 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 $42,496 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.