Urban and Regional Planners in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,356
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$25,424
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,697
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
$99,780
Kept after tax
$74,356
Worth in national money
$68,697
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Massachusetts pays urban and regional planners a middle wage of $99,780, ranking 9 of 51 states and sitting about 11.71% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Massachusetts. It ranks 117 out of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $99,780, tax leaves $74,356 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $68,697 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $100,590, since top earners drag the number up.
- Massachusetts's median for urban and regional planners is $99,780, about 11.71% above the national figure and 9 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Massachusetts, urban and regional planners ranks 117 of 485 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After tax, $74,356 remains from the Massachusetts median of $99,780 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $68,697 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $100,590 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Urban and Regional Planners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $69,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $134,310 |
| This salary | $99,780 |
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 | $74,356 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,025 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,626 |
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 | $93,143 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$17,440 |
| 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 $99,780. The published range is $69,150 up to $134,310, 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 $74,356, worked from $99,780. 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 117 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Massachusetts, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $68,697, the adjusted value of that $99,780 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 117 of 485 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for urban and regional planners in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $69,150 to $134,310. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $74,356, on $99,780 for work ranking 117 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 117 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Massachusetts, so $68,697 — the adjusted value of that $99,780 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 117 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $69,150 at the bottom tenth to $134,310 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $68,697 — 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, $74,356 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($69,150 to $134,310) 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 $68,697 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 $74,356 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.