Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,666
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$9,004
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,799
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
$46,670
Kept after tax
$37,666
Worth in national money
$34,799
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $46,670, which ranks 3 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 22.33% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Massachusetts, this one sits low: 402 of 485 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $46,670, tax leaves $37,666 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $34,799 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $48,390, since top earners drag the number up.
- Massachusetts ranks 3 of 51 states publishing a median for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers, at $46,670 — about 22.33% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers occupies position 402 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.
- After tax, $37,666 remains from the Massachusetts median of $46,670 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $34,799 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $48,390 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,130 |
| This salary | $46,670 |
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 | $37,666 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,679 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,034 |
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 | $44,164 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,297 |
| 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 veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Massachusetts earn under $46,670 and half over. The published range runs $35,460 at the tenth percentile to $63,130 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Massachusetts's $37,666, worked from $46,670. 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 402 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,799 uses one figure for the whole of Massachusetts. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 485 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 402.
- Figures are distribution medians for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,460 to $63,130; 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.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $37,666, on $46,670 for work ranking 402 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 402 of 485 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,799, worked from $46,670, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Massachusetts address, on work sitting at 402 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 $48,390, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,460 at the bottom tenth to $63,130 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $34,799 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 $37,666 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
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 $48,390. 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 ($35,460 to $63,130) 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 $34,799 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 $37,666 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.