Retail pay in Massachusetts after taxes: what you keep (2026)

The median retail associate in Massachusetts earned $36,320 a year in May 2024, which is $17 an hour for a full-time year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half of the 86,410 retail associates the BLS counts in Massachusetts earned more than that and half earned less; the middle half of them sat between $34,520 and $38,900. That is the gross figure, before anyone takes anything. What you keep depends on Massachusetts's tax, and Massachusetts has a flat 5% state income tax.

What the median retail associate keeps in Massachusetts

For a single filer on the median $36,320, taking the standard deduction and no other adjustments:

The state line is 5.0% of gross at this salary. Plus 4% on income above about $1 million, which is not in the table. Health insurance, retirement contributions and local taxes are not in it either; they vary by employer and by city.

Where Massachusetts ranks for retail associate pay

Of the 50 states, Massachusetts ranks 8 of 50 on the gross median for retail associates, in the top ten. The highest-paying state is Washington at $38,350 and the lowest is Mississippi at $27,810. Gross rank is not take-home rank: a state with no income tax climbs several places once the state line is applied, and a high-tax state drops.

Across the border

The same job in the states next to Massachusetts, gross median and estimated take-home for a single filer:

New Hampshire leaves a retail associate with more at the end of the year than Massachusetts does. Vermont, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island pay less once tax is counted. Pay is one line; rent is the other, and a higher median in a metro with higher rent can leave you with less.

Where the retail associate jobs are in Massachusetts

The BLS count of 86,410 retail associates is statewide. The metros with the most of that work are Boston, Worcester, Springfield and Cambridge, which is where the median is set and where the upper quartile ($38,900 and above) is most often paid. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are listed on the Massachusetts openings page; those filings are the ones already paying to bring people in, and housing or transport is often part of the offer.

What people get wrong about retail associate pay in Massachusetts

• Quoting the mean. The BLS mean for Massachusetts is $19 an hour, pulled up by the top earners. The median ($17) is what the typical retail associate makes.
• Comparing gross across states. A $36,320 offer in Massachusetts is $29,352 in hand; the same number in a no-tax state is $31,168.
• Forgetting the employer's share of insurance. A job that pays $34,320 with full health coverage can beat one that pays $39,320 without it.
• Treating the statewide median as the metro median. Boston pays differently from a rural county; ask for the figure for the place you are actually going.

Everything about Massachusetts, on one page

The Massachusetts page has the licence registries and boards, the state tax at three salaries, the programs that pay you to come, and the openings filed in Massachusetts this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Massachusetts employers hiring from out of state.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 state estimates for Retail. Tax lines are a single filer with the standard deduction, 2024 federal brackets, and the state rate in lib/us-states.ts; progressive states are approximated. Not tax advice.