What are Massachusetts's income tax rates for 2026?
Massachusetts taxes wages at 5% to 9% across 2 brackets. On $75,000 a single filer pays about $3,530 in Massachusetts income tax (4.7% effective).
Massachusetts income tax brackets (single filer)
| Taxable income | Rate | Note |
|---|---|---|
| $0 – $1,083,150 | 5% | Single filer, taxable income |
| Over $1,083,150 | 9% | Single filer, taxable income |
| MA PFML (employee ≈0.46%) | 0.46% | Employee payroll premium |
How to read this table
- Over $1,083,150 sits at the top of the table (9%) — single filer, taxable income. If your situation looks like this row, plan against the upper half of the range rather than the midpoint.
- MA PFML (employee ≈0.46%) anchors the bottom (0.46%) — employee payroll premium. Treat this as the conservative case you should still be profitable at.
- The gap between the top and bottom row is roughly 20×. That spread is why a single blended average is close to useless here — pick the row that matches your setup instead of averaging the column.
Context
Massachusetts taxes wages at 5%, plus a 4% 'millionaires' surtax above about $1.08M, and employees fund part of Paid Family & Medical Leave. Standard deduction / exemptions used here: $4,400 single, $8,800 joint. Married couples have their own published brackets. City and county income taxes, where they exist, come on top.
What moves this number
Filing status and W-4 settings
Married filing jointly roughly doubles bracket widths and the standard deduction, so the same salary withholds very differently by status. Dependents, second jobs, and extra-withholding entries on the W-4 move every paycheck.
State and local taxes
Nine states levy no wage income tax while top marginal rates elsewhere exceed 10%, and cities like New York add their own layer. The same salary can differ by hundreds of dollars per month purely on location.
Pre-tax benefits
Traditional 401(k), HSA, and health premiums come out before income tax, shrinking both taxable income and the withholding on each check — a raise in contributions costs less take-home than the headline amount.
Methodology
Brackets from the state revenue department's 2025–2026 published schedules; effective rate computed with no pre-tax deductions or credits.
Assumptions and caveats
- Figures use current-year federal brackets and standard deductions; your actual withholding depends on your W-4 and state.
- Estimates exclude credits (Child Tax Credit, EITC), which can materially change the final number.
- This is educational arithmetic, not tax advice — confirm decisions with a tax professional.
- This page was last reviewed on 2026-10-02. Ranges are updated as new data lands, so re-check before using them in a contract or a plan.
- Use these numbers as a starting range, not a guarantee — your own historical data always beats a benchmark.
Frequently asked questions
What are Massachusetts's income tax rates for 2026?
Massachusetts taxes wages at 5% to 9% across 2 brackets. On $75,000 a single filer pays about $3,530 in Massachusetts income tax (4.7% effective).
Which option pays the most in the massachusetts income tax brackets (single filer) table?
Over $1,083,150, at 9% (Single filer, taxable income). That row represents the strongest case in this dataset, so use it as an upper bound rather than an expectation.
What is a realistic low-end figure?
MA PFML (employee ≈0.46%) at 0.46% (Employee payroll premium). Plan your costs so the low end still works, then treat anything above it as upside.
Why do the numbers vary so much?
The spread between the highest and lowest row is about 20×. Filing status and W-4 settings and state and local taxes explain most of that gap — see the drivers section above for the full list.
Where do these numbers come from?
Brackets from the state revenue department's 2025–2026 published schedules; effective rate computed with no pre-tax deductions or credits.
How can I estimate my own number instead of using a benchmark?
Use the $75k after taxes in Massachusetts on RevenueLab — it takes your own inputs and returns a figure specific to your setup, which is always more accurate than a published range.
Model your own numbers
- $75k after taxes in Massachusetts
- $100k after taxes in Massachusetts
- Massachusetts paycheck calculator
Related reading
More answers in this category
- How do you calculate take-home pay?
- How do you calculate net pay from gross pay?
- What percentage of a paycheck goes to taxes?
- How do you calculate FICA taxes on a paycheck?
Looking for a calculator?
Search every free tool on RevenueLab — or describe your problem and Rex will pick one.
Last updated 2026-10-02.