Tool and Die Makers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,085
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$14,145
21.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,045
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
$67,230
Kept after tax
$53,085
Worth in national money
$49,045
State rank
16
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Massachusetts pays tool and die makers around $67,230 at the midpoint, 16 of 45 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Massachusetts, this sits in the middle: 248 of 485 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $67,230 the take-home is $53,085. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $49,045 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $68,680, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For tool and die makers the Massachusetts median is $67,230, ranking 16 of 45 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Tool and die makers ranks 248 of 485 occupations in Massachusetts by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Massachusetts income tax is $53,085 for tool and die makers, from $67,230. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $49,045. ⚠️ 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 $68,680 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Tool and Die Makers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $67,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,810 |
| This salary | $67,230 |
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 | $53,085 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,126 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,713 |
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 | $63,354 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,629 |
| 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 tool and die makers in Massachusetts earn under $67,230 and half over. The published range runs $47,200 at the tenth percentile to $93,810 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Massachusetts the take-home figure of $53,085, from $67,230, 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 248 of 485 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $49,045, the adjusted value of that $67,230 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 248 of 485 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for tool and die makers in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,200 to $93,810; 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.
- Take-home for Massachusetts is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $53,085 from $67,230. 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 248 of 485 locally.
- This $49,045 adjusted figure, worked from $67,230, 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 248 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 248 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $47,200 and the top tenth $93,810, 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 $49,045 — 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, $53,085 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($47,200 to $93,810) 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 $49,045 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 $53,085 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.