Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,627
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$12,263
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,002
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
$59,890
Kept after tax
$47,627
Worth in national money
$44,002
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $59,890, ranking 24 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 294 among 485 occupations Massachusetts publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $59,890 the take-home is $47,627. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $44,002 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $65,380, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Massachusetts occupies the middle band for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors: a median of $59,890, ranking 24 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 294 of 485 in Massachusetts places substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Massachusetts income tax is $47,627 for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors, from $59,890. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $44,002. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $65,380 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $96,200 |
| This salary | $59,890 |
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 | $47,627 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,302 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,762 |
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 | $56,561 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,387 |
| 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 substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in Massachusetts earn under $59,890 and half over. The published range runs $43,180 at the tenth percentile to $96,200 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $47,627 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $59,890. 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 294 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,002, the adjusted value of that $59,890 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 294 of 485 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $43,180 to $96,200; 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 $47,627, from $59,890, 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 294 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $44,002 — the adjusted value of that $59,890 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 294 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 $65,380, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $43,180 and the top tenth $96,200 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $44,002 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 $47,627 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $65,380. 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 ($43,180) and the ninetieth ($96,200) 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 $44,002 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 $47,627 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.