Average salary in Massachusetts: $85,610 a year
The mean annual wage across every job BLS counts in Massachusetts, with the median, the pay spread, the job groups and the occupations behind it.
The average salary in Massachusetts is $85,610 a year ($41.16 an hour): that is the mean annual wage across 3,637,650 jobs in the BLS May 2025 survey. The median is $63,590 ($30.57 an hour), so half of those jobs paid less and half paid more. The mean sits above the median because a smaller number of very high wages pulls it up.
How Massachusetts compares with the United States
Massachusetts's mean salary is $15,840 (22.7%) above the U.S. figure of $69,770; its median is $12,610 (24.7%) above the U.S. figure of $50,980. Among the 50 states and DC, Massachusetts ranks 2nd by mean salary and 2nd by median salary (1 = highest; calculated from the BLS figures).
| Measure | Massachusetts | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Mean (average) salary | $85,610 | $69,770 |
| Median salary | $63,590 | $50,980 |
| Mean hourly wage | $41.16 | $33.54 |
| Median hourly wage | $30.57 | $24.51 |
| Jobs counted | 3,637,650 | 155,495,730 |
Prices matter as much as pay. BEA's regional price parity for Massachusetts in 2024 is 105.8, where the United States = 100: overall prices there were about 5.8% above the national price level. A salary goes further where the index is lower.
What jobs in Massachusetts pay, from low to high
One job in ten in Massachusetts paid less than $36,330 a year, and one in ten paid more than $163,010. A quarter paid less than $44,730; a quarter paid more than $102,580.
| Area | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | $36,330 | $44,730 | $63,590 | $102,580 | $163,010 |
| United States | $31,200 | $37,590 | $50,980 | $80,520 | $128,560 |
Pay by job group in Massachusetts
The largest group in Massachusetts is office and administrative support, with 360,720 jobs (10% of the total, calculated). The best-paid group by median is management ($159,360); the lowest-paid is food preparation and serving related ($37,300). Where BLS does not release a figure, the table says so.
| Job group | Jobs | Median salary | Mean (average) salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office and Administrative Support | 360,720 | $54,990 | $58,380 |
| Management | 327,160 | $159,360 | $175,980 |
| Business and Financial Operations | 299,160 | $101,200 | $111,310 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | 292,980 | $37,300 | $42,210 |
| Sales and Related | 289,700 | $45,260 | $65,340 |
| Educational Instruction and Library | 253,260 | $77,550 | $82,290 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | 250,740 | $100,240 | $121,370 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | 233,740 | $45,930 | $52,330 |
| Healthcare Support | 200,430 | $43,090 | $46,170 |
| Computer and Mathematical | 153,860 | $130,620 | $133,220 |
| Production | 139,820 | $48,990 | $55,150 |
| Construction and Extraction | 132,960 | $77,480 | $81,330 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 107,060 | $65,260 | $70,900 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | 104,310 | $46,610 | $47,740 |
| Personal Care and Service | 84,310 | $42,670 | $47,690 |
| Protective Service | 82,890 | $65,550 | $69,540 |
| Community and Social Service | 80,530 | $63,260 | $69,750 |
| Architecture and Engineering | 79,140 | $106,360 | $116,830 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | 78,090 | $104,050 | $115,250 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | 49,130 | $76,420 | $84,410 |
| Legal | 35,100 | $132,990 | $168,560 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | 2,570 | $43,720 | $47,200 |
The occupations with the most jobs in Massachusetts
9 of the 12 largest occupations in Massachusetts with a published annual median paid a median below the all-jobs median of $63,590 (calculated from the BLS figures).
| Occupation | Jobs | Median salary |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 117,940 | $40,910 |
| General and Operations Managers | 95,880 | $127,220 |
| Registered Nurses | 88,200 | $104,550 |
| Retail Salespersons | 86,860 | $36,610 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 85,810 | $35,850 |
| Cashiers | 58,880 | $35,520 |
| Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners | 55,490 | $45,580 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | 54,670 | $38,460 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 49,990 | $49,120 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 49,760 | $37,540 |
| Software Developers | 48,190 | $165,210 |
| Office Clerks, General | 47,940 | $49,940 |
Go deeper
The best-paid occupations, ranked.
Open →Pay floorMassachusetts minimum wageThe state's hourly floor.
Open →PricesCost of living in MassachusettsWhat a salary buys there.
Open →Between jobsMassachusetts unemployment benefitsThe weekly maximum and weeks payable.
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Questions people ask
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How this page is built
Every pay figure is a BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 estimate for all occupations in Massachusetts (occupation code 00-0000), copied from BLS's data file; the job-group and occupation rows come from the same file. The average is BLS's mean wage (total wages divided by jobs); the median is the wage in the middle. OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay: they include commissions, tips, production bonuses and cost-of-living allowances, and leave out overtime premiums, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and benefits. BLS turns hourly wages into annual ones at 2,080 hours (40 hours for 52 weeks). Ranks, differences and shares are TryHired calculations from the BLS figures. Price levels are BEA Regional Price Parities.
- Household income: this page reports pay per job, not household or family income, which the Census Bureau measures differently.
- Starting pay: the figures include experienced workers. Entry-level pay is usually lower.
- Take-home pay: every figure is before taxes and deductions.
- Self-employment and farm work: not covered by OEWS (see the FAQ).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates: national, state and metropolitan-area data files (public domain).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS technical notes: what the survey counts as wages and jobs.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024 (released Feb 19, 2026).