Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,402
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$24,388
25.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,892
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
$96,790
Kept after tax
$72,402
Worth in national money
$66,892
State rank
11
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Massachusetts's middle earner gets $96,790, putting the state 11 of 46 — about 14.83% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations Massachusetts reports figures for, this is number 128.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $96,790 the take-home is $72,402; in national-average money that behaves like $66,892. The average comes to $109,340, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For sociology teachers, postsecondary, Massachusetts sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $96,790, ranking 11 of 46 and running about 14.83% 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.
- In Massachusetts's occupational distribution, sociology teachers, postsecondary sits at 128 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.
- Take-home for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Massachusetts, on $96,790, is $72,402; deflated by the state's price level, $66,892. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $109,340 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $96,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $195,940 |
| This salary | $96,790 |
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 | $72,402 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $76,922 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,266 |
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 | $90,366 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$16,943 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $96,790 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $61,200 and the ninetieth is $195,940 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Massachusetts the take-home figure of $72,402, from $96,790, 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 128 of 485 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $66,892, the adjusted value of that $96,790 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 128 of 485 locally.
- The Massachusetts median of $96,790 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $61,200 to $195,940. 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 $72,402 from $96,790. 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 128 of 485 locally.
- This $66,892 adjusted figure, worked from $96,790, 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 128 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 128 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 $109,340, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $61,200 at the bottom tenth to $195,940 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $66,892 rather than its face figure.
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 $72,402 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $109,340. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($61,200) and the ninetieth ($195,940) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $66,892 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 $72,402 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.