Prices, pay, taxes, homes and family budgets, county by county, from the same official data the site's calculators use.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures price levels in every state against a national average of 100. Massachusetts scores 105.8 overall, so a $75,000 salary at average US prices buys what $79,318 buys here. Compare any salary with another state.
| Price level | Massachusetts (US = 100) | Rank, most expensive first |
|---|---|---|
| Everything | 105.8 | 7th of 51 |
| Rents | 128.1 | 4th of 51 |
| Goods | 98.8 | — |
| Other services | 102.9 | — |
Home electricity averaged 29.35 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2024, against 17.06 across all states. A gallon of regular gas cost $4.11 at the end of August 2026, against $4.12.
Across all 3,637,650 jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in Massachusetts, the median pay is $63,590 a year, or $30.57 an hour; that ranks 2nd of the 50 states and DC. One worker in ten earns less than $36,330 and one in ten more than $163,010.
Massachusetts taxes wages in brackets, with a top rate of 9%. The brackets in Massachusetts. A single filer on the median $63,590, with no retirement or health deductions, takes home about $50,095 a year, or $1,927 every two weeks, after $5,451 of federal income tax, $4,865 of Social Security and Medicare and $3,180 of state income tax. Work out your own paycheck in Massachusetts.
The five occupations employing the most people, with their median annual pay:
| Occupation | Jobs | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Of the 20 largest occupations, the best paid are software developers ($165,210), general and operations managers ($127,220), registered nurses ($104,550). See what common jobs pay in every state.
Across the 14 Massachusetts counties with their own Zillow home value, the median typical home is worth $694,439, and across the 12 with their own rent figure the median typical rent is $2,442 a month. A typical home costs 5.03 years of the county's median family income, at the median county.
With 10% down at 7.03%, the average 30-year rate on September 24, 2026, that home costs about $5,340 a month with tax, insurance and mortgage insurance, which takes $228,839 a year of income under the usual 28% guideline. The median family can afford its own county's typical home in 0.0% of Massachusetts's counties, against 44.9% of counties nationally. Try it with your own income.
At the median county, home values changed +1.9% over the past year and +28.5% over five years, and rents +3.2% over the past year.
The most expensive Massachusetts counties are Nantucket County ($3,158,782), Dukes County ($1,554,309) and Middlesex County ($825,261); the least expensive are Hampden County ($357,811), Franklin County ($377,417) and Berkshire County ($395,409).
The Economic Policy Institute prices what a modest but adequate standard of living costs in every county: housing, food, transport, healthcare, childcare, other necessities and taxes. In the median Massachusetts county, that comes to $64,576 a year for one adult and $145,155 for two adults and two children, of which $29,657 is childcare. The national averages are $47,367 and $101,771. Median family income in the median county is $120,510.
| Two adults, two children | Per year, median county | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $25,380 | $2,115 |
| Food | $14,387 | $1,199 |
| Transportation | $18,969 | $1,581 |
| Healthcare | $15,671 | $1,306 |
| Childcare | $29,657 | $2,471 |
| Other necessities | $12,186 | $1,015 |
| Taxes | $28,827 | $2,402 |
Each line is its own median across counties, so the lines do not add up exactly to the total.
The Department of Education's College Scorecard lists 140 colleges in Massachusetts, 40 of them public. The median public college reports a cost of attendance of $18,062 a year, covering tuition, housing, books and other expenses. Ten years after enrolling, the median school's former students earn $53,105. Compare degrees and schools.
| Barnstable County | $768,158 | +1.6% | $2,738 | $124,037 | $155,377 |
| Berkshire County | $395,409 | +1.9% | $1,753 | $95,050 | $128,123 |
| Bristol County | $553,616 | +3.7% | $2,059 | $107,459 | $127,067 |
| Dukes County | $1,554,309 | +3.9% | — | $141,907 | $165,512 |
| Essex County | $731,630 | +1.9% | $2,648 | $125,134 | $145,110 |
| Franklin County | $377,417 | +1.5% | $1,857 | $96,152 | $127,214 |
| Hampden County | $357,811 | +3.9% | $1,793 | $89,744 | $119,347 |
| Hampshire County | $459,000 | +2.2% | $2,236 | $116,070 | $132,871 |
| Middlesex County | $825,261 | +1.4% | $3,222 | $160,640 | $165,195 |
| Nantucket County | $3,158,782 | +7.2% | — | $151,336 | $184,690 |
| Norfolk County | $781,743 | +1.9% | $2,953 | $163,845 | $176,962 |
| Plymouth County | $657,248 | +3.9% | $2,785 | $133,494 | $145,200 |
| Suffolk County | $763,194 | +0.3% | $3,361 | $110,193 | $168,036 |
| Worcester County | $504,884 | +1.8% | $2,165 | $116,982 | $136,464 |
A dash means the source publishes no figure for that county. Home values and rents are Zillow's own county figures only; counties Zillow does not cover are left blank rather than filled with a state average.
Boston, MA (typical rent $3,165), Providence, RI (typical rent $2,180), Worcester, MA (typical rent $2,142), Springfield, MA (typical rent $1,918).
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Cost of living · Income tax · Child care costs
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County figures are medians across Massachusetts's counties, each counting once, so they describe the spread of places rather than of people. Property tax and insurance vary widely; the calculators let you use your own.