Massachusetts income tax, 2026
What a salary actually costs in Massachusetts, 35th lowest of 51 at $100,000, and a line-by-line account of where that money is spent.
Take-home
$74,400
on $100,000 in Massachusetts
Total tax
$25,600
35th lowest of 51
Effective rate
25.60%
of gross income
Marginal rate
27.00%
on your next dollar
On a $100,000 salary in Massachusetts, you keep $74,400 after income tax and payroll contributions. That is an effective rate of 25.60%. Every extra dollar you earn is taxed at 27.00%.
Of that, $4,780 goes to Massachusetts and the rest to the federal government.
Among the 51 US states and DC, Massachusetts ranks 35th lowest at this income. The same salary would cost $20,820 in Alaska and $28,810 in New York, a spread of $7,990 a year.
Your $25,600 funds benefits & pensions more than anything else ($6,041), followed by health ($5,517) and debt interest ($3,335).
What you pay
Every charge, at every level of government.
| Charge | Level | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Securityfederal · 6.20% | federal | $6,200.00 | |
| Medicarefederal · 1.45% | federal | $1,450.00 | |
| Federal income taxfederal · 22.00% | federal | $13,170.00 | |
| Massachusetts income taxstate · 5.00% | state | $4,780.00 | |
| Total tax | $25,600.00 |
Where your tax goes
Your $25,600 apportioned across what these governments actually budget to spend.
| Programme | Level | Your share | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medicare and Medicaidfederal · 19.63%Health coverage for people over 65 and for people on low incomes. Together they are the largest single thing the federal government buys. | federal | $5,024.65 | |
| Social Security retirement and survivorsfederal · 15.69%Monthly benefits to retired workers, their spouses and survivors. Funded by the payroll tax you pay separately. | federal | $4,015.66 | |
| Interest on the national debtfederal · 13.03%Interest on accumulated federal borrowing. It buys nothing, being the price of past deficits, and it is now the single largest line in the federal budget. | federal | $3,334.99 | |
| Public welfare and social servicesstate · 7.84% | state | $2,006.92 | |
| Department of Veterans Affairsfederal · 4.17%Veterans' health care, disability compensation and pensions. | federal | $1,066.95 | |
| Military operations and maintenancefederal · 3.79%Running the armed forces day to day: training, fuel, maintenance, bases. | federal | $970.09 | |
| Other and unallocatedstate · 3.55% | state | $909.72 | |
| IRS and refundable tax creditsfederal · 3.12%Collecting tax, and paying out refundable credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the refundable part of the Child Tax Credit. | federal | $798.36 | |
| Department of Agriculturefederal · 2.52%SNAP food assistance, school meals, farm support and the Forest Service. | federal | $644.35 | |
| Military personnelfederal · 2.29%Pay and allowances for service members. | federal | $585.06 | |
| K-12 educationstate · 2.13% | state | $544.50 | |
| Weapons and equipment procurementfederal · 1.79%Buying aircraft, ships, vehicles and munitions. | federal | $458.98 | |
| Social Security disability insurancefederal · 1.77%Benefits for workers who can no longer work because of disability. | federal | $452.78 | |
| Defence research and developmentfederal · 1.56%Developing and testing new military technology. | federal | $400.62 | |
| Office of Personnel Managementfederal · 1.42%Federal civilian employee retirement and health benefits. | federal | $363.32 | |
| Department of Transportationfederal · 1.41%Highways, transit, aviation and rail. | federal | $361.46 | |
| Department of Homeland Securityfederal · 1.28%Border and immigration enforcement, FEMA, the Coast Guard and the TSA. | federal | $326.68 | |
| Colleges and universitiesstate · 1.22% | state | $312.16 | |
| Other Defense Civil Programsfederal · 0.85%Military retirement and related trust funds. | federal | $216.70 | |
| Supplemental Security Incomefederal · 0.77%Payments to people over 65 or with disabilities who have very little income. | federal | $196.43 | |
| Housing and community developmentstate · 0.59% | state | $151.28 | |
| Department of Energyfederal · 0.58%The nuclear weapons complex, national laboratories and energy research. | federal | $148.15 | |
| Department of Housing and Urban Developmentfederal · 0.56%Rental assistance, public housing and community development. | federal | $143.17 | |
| Department of Laborfederal · 0.56%Unemployment insurance, worker protection and job training. | federal | $142.74 | |
| Public health servicesstate · 0.56% | state | $142.67 | |
| Highways and roadsstate · 0.54% | state | $138.12 | |
| National Institutes of Healthfederal · 0.52%Medical and biomedical research. | federal | $133.98 | |
| Department of Justicefederal · 0.50%The FBI, DEA, federal prisons and US attorneys. | federal | $127.34 | |
| Environmental Protection Agencyfederal · 0.41%Clean air and water enforcement, and Superfund cleanups. | federal | $104.76 | |
| Prisons and correctionsstate · 0.39% | state | $100.25 | |
| Department of Educationfederal · 0.38%Student aid, and funding for schools serving low-income students. | federal | $98.36 | |
| Department of Commercefederal · 0.33%The Census, NOAA, the Patent Office and economic development. | federal | $84.18 | |
| Department of Statefederal · 0.31%Embassies, diplomacy and foreign assistance. | federal | $80.36 | |
| Hospitalsstate · 0.29% | state | $75.30 | |
| Courts and legal servicesstate · 0.29% | state | $74.95 | |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administrationfederal · 0.27%Space exploration and science. | federal | $69.63 | |
| Financial administrationstate · 0.27% | state | $67.86 | |
| Department of the Interiorfederal · 0.25%National parks, public lands and tribal programmes. | federal | $63.47 | |
| State policestate · 0.20% | state | $51.16 | |
| International Assistance Programsfederal · 0.19%Foreign aid, development finance and the Peace Corps. | federal | $49.00 | |
| Airportsstate · 0.19% | state | $48.29 | |
| Military construction and housingfederal · 0.18%Building and maintaining bases and family housing. | federal | $45.61 | |
| Health Resources and Services Administrationfederal · 0.17%Community health centres, rural health and the organ transplant system. | federal | $42.77 | |
| University auxiliary servicesstate · 0.15% | state | $39.09 | |
| Corps of Engineersfederal · 0.13%Flood control, waterways and harbours. | federal | $34.35 | |
| Centers for Disease Controlfederal · 0.13%Disease surveillance, outbreak response and immunisation. | federal | $32.29 | |
| HHS departmental managementfederal · 0.12%Running the department. | federal | $30.59 | |
| National Science Foundationfederal · 0.11%Basic scientific research grants. | federal | $28.19 | |
| Judicial Branchfederal · 0.11%The federal courts. | federal | $27.65 | |
| Toll highwaysstate · 0.10% | state | $24.66 | |
| Seweragestate · 0.09% | state | $23.53 | |
| Indian Health Servicefederal · 0.09%Health care for American Indian and Alaska Native people. | federal | $23.51 | |
| Substance abuse and mental healthfederal · 0.09%Addiction treatment and community mental health services. | federal | $23.51 | |
| Legislative Branchfederal · 0.08%Congress, the GAO and the Library of Congress. | federal | $20.49 | |
| Independent Agenciesfederal · 0.08%Smaller independent federal agencies. | federal | $19.23 | |
| Parks and recreationstate · 0.07% | state | $17.80 | |
| Government buildingsstate · 0.05% | state | $13.77 | |
| Ports and water transportstate · 0.05% | state | $12.87 | |
| Food and Drug Administrationfederal · 0.04%Drug, device and food safety regulation. | federal | $9.35 | |
| Other HHS programmesfederal · 0.04%Remaining public health and human services programmes. | federal | $9.35 | |
| Central staff servicesstate · 0.03% | state | $8.89 | |
| Administration for Community Livingfederal · 0.03%Services for older adults and people with disabilities. | federal | $8.50 | |
| Inspection and regulationstate · 0.03% | state | $8.20 | |
| Librariesstate · 0.02% | state | $4.06 | |
| Small Business Administrationfederal · 0.01%Small business lending and disaster loans. | federal | $2.37 | |
| Veterans servicesstate · 0.01% | state | $2.36 | |
| Natural resources and conservationstate · 0.01% | state | $1.55 | |
| Solid waste managementstate · 0.00% | state | $0.06 |
United States federal government FY2025: US Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement Table 5, net outlays by agency for the fiscal year ended 2025-09-30, with the four largest agencies split into their published components.
MA 2023: US Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State Government Finances, table GS00SG01.
- •Allocation is proportional to published spending, not a trace of your actual dollars. No specific payment funds a specific programme.
- •Governments run deficits, so total spending exceeds total tax revenue. These shares show the composition of spending, not a balanced ledger.
What to check before trusting this
- •State figures are for tax year 2025 and every one has been cross-checked against the state's own published schedule or its enacting legislation (audited 2026-09-08). Confirm against the state revenue department before filing.
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