Transportation Security Screeners in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,189
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$16,321
22.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,836
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
$73,510
Kept after tax
$57,189
Worth in national money
$52,836
State rank
4
of 45 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 $73,510, ranking 4 of 45 states and sitting about 10.09% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 224 among 485 occupations Massachusetts publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $73,510 the take-home is $57,189. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $52,836 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $70,950, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Massachusetts's median for transportation security screeners is $73,510, about 10.09% above the national figure and 4 of 45 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 224 of 485 in Massachusetts places transportation security screeners 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 $57,189 for transportation security screeners, from $73,510. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $52,836. ⚠️ 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 $70,950 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Transportation Security Screeners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,740 |
| This salary | $73,510 |
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 | $57,189 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,544 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,468 |
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 | $68,740 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,323 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $73,510 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $62,030 and the ninetieth is $83,740 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Massachusetts's $57,189, worked from $73,510. 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 224 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $52,836, the adjusted value of that $73,510 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 224 of 485 in the state.
- The Massachusetts median of $73,510 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $62,030 to $83,740. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $57,189, on $73,510 for work ranking 224 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 224 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $52,836 — the adjusted value of that $73,510 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 224 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $70,950, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $62,030 and the top tenth $83,740, so most people doing this work in Massachusetts sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $52,836 of national purchasing power.
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, $57,189 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 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 $70,950. 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 ($62,030 to $83,740) 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 $52,836 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 $57,189 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.