How Much Tax Is Deducted From a Massachusetts Paycheck?

Five deductions come out of a Massachusetts paycheck for almost every worker: federal income tax (10% to 37% depending on your bracket), a flat 5% Massachusetts state income tax, 6.2% Social Security, 1.45% Medicare, and up to 0.46% for Paid Family and Medical Leave. How much tax is deducted from a Massachusetts paycheck depends on your gross pay, your filing status, the exemptions you claimed on your withholding forms, and whether any pre-tax benefits reduce the wages your employer runs those percentages against. High earners pay more: an extra 0.9% Medicare tax above $200,000 in wages, and a 4% Massachusetts surtax on taxable income above $1,107,750 in 2026.

Federal Income Tax

Federal income tax is the largest line on most pay stubs, and it uses a progressive bracket system. Only the dollars inside each bracket are taxed at that bracket’s rate, so moving up a bracket does not re-tax the income below it.¹ For 2026, a single filer pays:

10% on the first $12,400 of taxable income
12% from $12,401 to $50,400
22% from $50,401 to $105,700
24% from $105,701 to $201,775
32% from $201,776 to $256,225
35% from $256,226 to $640,600
37% above $640,600

Married couples filing jointly get wider brackets: the 10% rate covers the first $24,800, and 37% starts at $768,700.²

Your employer does not apply those rates to your gross pay. First, your taxable wages are reduced by the standard deduction built into the withholding tables: $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household in 2026.² Your employer then uses your W-4 answers and the IRS Publication 15-T tables to estimate how much to pull from each check. Because withholding is an estimate stretched across the year, you may still owe a little or receive a refund at filing.

Massachusetts State Income Tax

Massachusetts taxes wages, salaries, and tips at a flat 5%. There are no brackets. Someone earning $40,000 and someone earning $400,000 are taxed at the same rate on their wages.³ Employers calculate how much to withhold using the Massachusetts Circular M tables.⁴

Before applying the 5% rate, your employer subtracts the personal exemptions you claimed on Form M-4. For 2026:

Single: $4,400
Head of household: $6,800
Married filing jointly: $8,800
Each dependent: $1,000
Age 65 or older: an extra $700 per qualifying person
Legally blind: an extra $2,200

More exemptions mean less income is subject to the 5% withholding.⁵

The 4% Surtax on High Incomes

Massachusetts adds a 4% surtax on taxable income above an inflation-adjusted threshold, which is $1,107,750 for 2026.⁶ Only the dollars above that line pay the extra 4%, bringing the effective state rate on that slice to 9%. Below the threshold, the surtax does not apply.⁷

Social Security and Medicare

FICA covers two separate deductions. Social Security takes 6.2% of your gross wages, but only up to $184,500 in 2026. Once your year-to-date earnings cross that cap, the 6.2% stops for the rest of the year.⁸ Medicare takes 1.45% of every dollar of gross wages, with no cap. Your employer matches both amounts out of its own funds, so nothing extra comes out of your check.⁹

Additional Medicare Tax Above $200,000

If your wages cross $200,000 in a calendar year, your employer withholds an extra 0.9% Medicare tax on every dollar above that figure, regardless of your filing status. The actual liability thresholds on your return are different: $250,000 for married filing jointly and $125,000 for married filing separately. Any over- or under-withholding gets squared up when you file.⁹

Paid Family and Medical Leave

Massachusetts also deducts a contribution for the Paid Family and Medical Leave program, which funds up to 26 weeks of paid leave for qualifying reasons. At employers with 25 or more covered workers, the total contribution is 0.88% of eligible wages, split between a family-leave piece and a medical-leave piece:¹⁰

Family leave (0.18%): your employer can withhold the full amount from your wages.
Medical leave (0.70% total): your employer can withhold up to 40% of this piece from you, which works out to 0.28%. The employer covers the other 0.42%.

Added together, the most that can come out of your paycheck for PFML is 0.46% of eligible wages. If your employer has fewer than 25 covered workers, the employer does not owe its share, but your deduction still applies.¹¹ PFML contributions only run on wages up to the Social Security wage base — $184,500 in 2026 — so nothing is deducted above that.

Pre-Tax Deductions That Shrink What Gets Withheld

Some deductions come out of your gross wages before taxes are calculated, lowering the income your employer runs the federal, state, and in some cases FICA percentages against. Common ones include:

Traditional 401(k) or 403(b) contributions, which reduce your taxable wages for federal and state income tax.
Your share of employer-sponsored health insurance premiums, generally excluded from income tax and FICA.¹²
Payroll contributions to a Health Savings Account, exempt from federal income tax and employment taxes.
Flexible Spending Account contributions for health or dependent care, exempt from federal income tax and payroll taxes.

Post-tax deductions, like Roth 401(k) contributions, some life insurance premiums, and wage garnishments, come out after taxes and do not reduce your taxable pay. That is why two coworkers earning the same salary can see different amounts withheld.

Changing What Comes Out of Your Check

Federal withholding is driven mainly by Form W-4, where you report your filing status, multiple-job situation, dependents, deductions beyond the standard amount, and any extra dollars you want pulled per pay period.¹³ Claiming more dependents or deductions in Step 4 shrinks the federal tax withheld; requesting additional withholding grows it.

State withholding is driven by Form M-4. The exemptions you claim on Lines 1 through 3 come out of your wages before the 5% rate is applied, and Line 5 lets you request extra withholding per pay period. Full-time students working seasonal or part-time jobs who expect to earn less than $8,000 for the year can claim an exemption from state withholding altogether.¹⁴ You can submit new W-4 and M-4 forms whenever your situation changes, which is the cleanest way to keep withholding in line with what you will actually owe after a marriage, a new child, or a second job.¹⁵

1
Internal Revenue Service. Federal Income Tax Rates and Brackets
2
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
3
General Court of Massachusetts. Chapter 62B – Withholding of Taxes on Wages and Declaration of Estimated Income Tax
4
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. 830 CMR 62B.2.1 Withholding of Taxes on Wages and Other Payments
5
Mass.gov. Massachusetts Personal Income Tax Exemptions
6
Mass.gov. Massachusetts Circular M – Income Tax Withholding Tables Effective January 1, 2026
7
Mass.gov. Massachusetts 4% Surtax on Taxable Income
8
Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
9
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates
10
Mass.gov. Paid Family and Medical Leave Employer Contribution Rates and Calculator
11
Mass.gov. Employer’s Introduction to Paid Family and Medical Leave
12
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 969 (2025), Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans
13
Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate
14
Mass.gov. Massachusetts DOR Withholding Tax Forms
15
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Withholding Taxes on Wages