Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,953
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$18,847
23.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,238
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
$80,800
Kept after tax
$61,953
Worth in national money
$57,238
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Massachusetts pays this job a middle wage of $80,800, ranking 13 of 51 states and sitting about 2.77% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations Massachusetts reports figures for, this is number 177.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $80,800 the take-home is $61,953; in national-average money that behaves like $57,238. The average comes to $82,450, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Massachusetts's median for stationary engineers and boiler operators is $80,800, about 2.77% above the national figure and 13 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.
- In Massachusetts's occupational distribution, stationary engineers and boiler operators sits at 177 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 stationary engineers and boiler operators in Massachusetts, on $80,800, is $61,953; deflated by the state's price level, $57,238. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $82,450 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $64,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,800 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,710 |
| This salary | $80,800 |
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 | $61,953 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,673 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,344 |
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 | $75,512 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,289 |
| 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 stationary engineers and boiler operators in Massachusetts earn under $80,800 and half over. The published range runs $64,540 at the tenth percentile to $100,710 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 $61,953, worked from $80,800. 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 177 of 485.
- Two cautions on $57,238, the adjusted value of that $80,800 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 177 of 485 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for stationary engineers and boiler operators in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $64,540 to $100,710; 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 $61,953, on $80,800 for work ranking 177 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 177 of 485 in the state.
- This $57,238 adjusted figure, worked from $80,800, 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 177 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 177 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $64,540 and the top tenth $100,710, 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 $57,238 — 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 $61,953.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($64,540 to $100,710) 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 $57,238 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 $61,953 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.