Stockers and Order Fillers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,786
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$6,754
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,443
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
$37,540
Kept after tax
$30,786
Worth in national money
$28,443
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts is one of the better-paying states for stockers and order fillers. The middle earner takes $37,540, which ranks 16 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 0.56% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Massachusetts, this one sits low: 460 of 485 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $37,540, tax leaves $30,786 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $28,443 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $40,250, since top earners drag the number up.
- Massachusetts ranks 16 of 51 states publishing a median for stockers and order fillers, at $37,540 — about 0.56% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Stockers and order fillers occupies position 460 of 485 in Massachusetts's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After tax, $30,786 remains from the Massachusetts median of $37,540 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $28,443 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $40,250 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Stockers and Order Fillers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,380 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,610 |
| This salary | $37,540 |
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 | $30,786 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,343 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,840 |
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 | $35,602 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,854 |
| 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 stockers and order fillers in Massachusetts earn under $37,540 and half over. The published range runs $33,380 at the tenth percentile to $48,610 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $30,786 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $37,540. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 460 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,443 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 460.
- Figures are distribution medians for stockers and order fillers in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,380 to $48,610; 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.
- Retained pay of $30,786, from $37,540, assumes a single Massachusetts filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 460 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,443, worked from $37,540, 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 460 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 $40,250, 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?
The range here is narrow. From $33,380 at the bottom tenth to $48,610 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 $28,443 of national purchasing power.
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 $30,786.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $40,250. 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 ($33,380 to $48,610) 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 $28,443 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 $30,786 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.