Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,496
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$8,294
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,794
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
$43,790
Kept after tax
$35,496
Worth in national money
$32,794
State rank
8
of 46 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 $43,790, ranking 8 of 46 states and sitting about 13.36% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Massachusetts, this one sits low: 424 of 485 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $43,790 the take-home is $35,496; in national-average money that behaves like $32,794. The average comes to $45,190, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Massachusetts's median for switchboard operators, including answering service is $43,790, about 13.36% above the national figure and 8 of 46 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Switchboard operators, including answering service occupies position 424 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.
- Take-home for switchboard operators, including answering service in Massachusetts, on $43,790, is $35,496; deflated by the state's price level, $32,794. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $45,190 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,980 |
| This salary | $43,790 |
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 | $35,496 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,365 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,657 |
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 | $41,463 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,842 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Massachusetts earn less than $43,790. The published range is $36,680 up to $57,980, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Massachusetts's $35,496, worked from $43,790. 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 424 of 485.
- Two cautions on $32,794, the adjusted value of that $43,790 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 424 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for switchboard operators, including answering service in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,680 to $57,980. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $35,496, on $43,790 for work ranking 424 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 424 of 485 in the state.
- This $32,794 adjusted figure, worked from $43,790, 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 424 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 424 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $45,190 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,680 at the tenth percentile, $57,980 at the ninetieth.
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 $32,794 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Massachusetts's own levy, $35,496 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $45,190. 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 ($36,680 to $57,980) 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 $32,794 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 $35,496 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.