Sewing Machine Operators in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,833
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$8,077
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,182
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
$42,910
Kept after tax
$34,833
Worth in national money
$32,182
State rank
6
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Massachusetts pays sewing machine operators a middle wage of $42,910, ranking 6 of 50 states and sitting about 17.02% above the national middle.
- Within Massachusetts this is lower-paid work. Of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, sewing machine operators ranks 431. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $42,910, tax leaves $34,833 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $32,182 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $42,850.
- Massachusetts's median for sewing machine operators is $42,910, about 17.02% above the national figure and 6 of 50 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, sewing machine operators ranks 431 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, $34,833 remains from the Massachusetts median of $42,910 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $32,182 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $42,850 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Sewing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $53,990 |
| This salary | $42,910 |
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 | $34,833 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,658 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,542 |
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 | $40,638 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,703 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $42,910 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,580 and the ninetieth is $53,990 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Massachusetts the take-home figure of $34,833, from $42,910, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 431 of 485 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,182 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 431.
- The Massachusetts median of $42,910 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,580 to $53,990. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Massachusetts is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $34,833 from $42,910. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 431 of 485 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,182, worked from $42,910, 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 431 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,580 at the bottom tenth to $53,990 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $32,182 of national purchasing power.
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 $34,833 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,580 to $53,990) 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 $32,182 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 $34,833 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.