Hourly pay after taxes in Massachusetts
$20 an hour in Massachusetts comes to $1,294.39 every two weeks after taxes, for a single person working full time.
Updated for 2026Checked Oct 29, 2026 against IRS and Massachusetts Department of Revenue sourcesHow we check
Take-home pay by hourly wage, 2026
| Wage | Two weeks | Month | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15.00 | $994.83 | $2,155 | $25,866 |
| $18.00 | $1,174.57 | $2,545 | $30,539 |
| $20.00 | $1,294.39 | $2,805 | $33,654 |
| $22.00 | $1,414.21 | $3,064 | $36,769 |
| $25.00 | $1,593.95 | $3,454 | $41,443 |
| $30.00 | $1,893.51 | $4,103 | $49,231 |
| $35.00 | $2,168.84 | $4,699 | $56,390 |
| $40.00 | $2,428.40 | $5,262 | $63,138 |
| $50.00 | $2,947.52 | $6,386 | $76,636 |
Every column after the wage is take-home pay. Each row assumes 40 hours a week all year, one paycheck every two weeks, single, no dependents, and no benefits taken out. The monthly and yearly columns are that paycheck times 26. Use the paycheck calculator for your own hours and deductions.
What comes out of an hourly paycheck
At $25 an hour, a two-week paycheck in Massachusetts starts at $2,000.00 and ends at $1,593.95.
| Federal income tax | $156.15 |
| Social Security | $124.00 |
| Medicare | $29.00 |
| Massachusetts income tax | $87.70 |
| Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave | $9.20 |
Massachusetts charges a flat 5 percent of wages for income tax. Income above $1,107,750 in 2026 pays an extra 4 percent surtax, for 9 percent, a threshold no row of this table comes near. Employers may also take up to 0.46 percent of wages for Paid Family and Medical Leave on wages up to the Social Security limit of $184,500. Federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare come out on top of both.
There is no city or county wage tax, so a flat state line and one leave line make up the whole state side.
What changes your number
Massachusetts keeps its state side steady. A flat 5 percent means the income tax rises in step with your wage, and the leave premium is a set slice of each check until $184,500.
Exemptions on Form M-4 are the one place the state side bends. You claim one for yourself, a spouse's exemption has its own entry, and each dependent adds one more. Because the surtax starts above $1,107,750, no wage in the table triggers it.
Hours matter too. At $20 an hour and 30 hours a week instead of 40, a two-week paycheck in Massachusetts comes to $994.83.
The minimum wage in Massachusetts
The minimum wage in Massachusetts is $15.00 an hour, and a full-time worker at $15 takes home about $2,155 a month. It has applied since January 1, 2023. A service rate of $6.75 covers workers who make more than $20 a month in tips, and the state's page lists no scheduled increase.
Sources and checks
Checked on Oct 29, 2026. Source: Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Circular M, "Massachusetts Income Tax Withholding Tables at 5.0% Effective January 1, 2026" (Rev. 12/25), page 12, percentage method step 4 ("the 2026 inflation-adjusted threshold for the 4% surtax") (www.mass.gov/doc/massachusetts-circular-m-income-tax-withholding-tables-at-50-effective-january-1-2026/download, fetched and read Oct 29, 2026).
Disability: Department of Family and Medical Leave, "Paid Family and Medical Leave employer contribution rates and calculator" (www.mass.gov/info-details/paid-family-and-medical-leave-employer-contribution-rates-and-calculator, fetched and read Oct 29, 2026): 2026 total rate 0.88 percent; up to 100 percent of the family leave part (0.18 percent of wages) and up to 40 percent of the medical leave part (0.28 percent) can be withheld from the worker; "Individual contributions are capped by the Social Security taxable maximum"; SSA contribution and benefit base table (www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html, fetched Oct 29, 2026): $184,500 for 2026.
Local taxes: Massachusetts Constitution, Amendment Article 89 (home rule), section 7 (malegislature.gov/Laws/Constitution, fetched and read Oct 29, 2026): nothing in the article grants any city or town the power "to levy, assess and collect taxes," so cities and towns cannot create an income tax on their own; no local income tax appears in Circular M (Rev. 12/25).
Minimum wage: Mass.gov, "Massachusetts law about minimum wage" (www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-law-about-minimum-wage, fetched Oct 29, 2026): "Effective January 1, 2023, the minimum wage is $15.00 per hour and the service rate is $6.75 (applied to workers who provide services to customers and who make more than $20 a month in tips)." No scheduled increase was found on the page.
Federal withholding: IRS Publication 15-T (2026), Worksheet 1A and its "2026 Percentage Method Tables for Automated Payroll Systems and Withholding on Periodic Payments of Pensions and Annuities," pages 10 to 12. Fetched directly from irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15t.pdf and transcribed Oct 28, 2026.
Every figure above comes from the sources listed here. How we check our numbers.
Spot a wrong number? Email contact@paydeskcalc.com with the page and the figure.