What Firefighters earn in Middlesex County, MA
The median pay for Firefighters in Middlesex County, MA is $73,990 per year, which works out to $35.57 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area, the labor market that Middlesex County, MA belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $75,400, which is 1.9% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 8,510 people working in this occupation across the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Middlesex County, MA has roughly 1,638,365 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Firefighters in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $49,700 a year ($23.89 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $118,540 or more ($56.99 an hour). That is a gap of $68,840 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $62,050 at the 25th percentile and $81,110 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.4 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $35.57 an hour or $73,990 a year at the median for Middlesex County, MA. Before any deductions, that is $6,166 a month, $2,846 every two weeks and $1,423 each week. After taxes the same job pays $27.46 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Firefighters
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Firefighters this way: "Control and extinguish fires or respond to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk. Duties may include fire prevention, emergency medical service, hazardous material response, search and rescue, and disaster assistance."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Rescue survivors from burning buildings, accident sites, and water hazards"; "Dress with equipment such as fire-resistant clothing and breathing apparatus"; "Assess fires and situations and report conditions to superiors to receive instructions, using two-way radios"; "Move toward the source of a fire, using knowledge of types of fires, construction design, building materials, and physical layout of properties".
Job outlook for Firefighters
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 355,300 jobs in 2025 to 368,400 in 2035, a change of +3.7%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 26,800 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 7.5% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: postsecondary nondegree award. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: long-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $59,280 for this occupation; the Middlesex County, MA median of $73,990 is 24.8% above it.
How pay in Middlesex County, MA compares
Compared with the Massachusetts average
A worker in this occupation in Middlesex County, MA earns $3,321 more than the Massachusetts average of $70,669, a premium of 4.7%. Over a year that premium is worth $3,321 before tax and roughly $2,564 after tax. Within Massachusetts, Middlesex County, MA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Firefighters is $62,852 across the contiguous United States. At $73,990, Middlesex County, MA pays $11,138 more, which is 17.7% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Middlesex County, MA
Among the 581 occupations with published wages in Middlesex County, MA, Firefighters ranks number 291 by median pay, ahead of about 50% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Natural Sciences Managers at $291,000 a year, which is $217,010 more than the median for Firefighters.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Firefighters earning the Middlesex County, MA median of $73,990, they add up to $16,867. The result is $57,123 of take-home pay a year ($4,760 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $23 goes to taxes and $77 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 22.8%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $58,240. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $7,727, an effective 10.4% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $4,587 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,073. FICA totals $5,660, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Massachusetts
Massachusetts income tax on this salary is $3,480 a year, or 4.7% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 45% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $290 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Middlesex County, MA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Middlesex County, MA show an average adjusted gross income of $155,231 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 18.6% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 8.3%, compared with the 10.4% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Middlesex County, MA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Middlesex County, MA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $57,123 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Middlesex County, MA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $2,382 a month ($28,584 a year), and at $2,884 for two bedrooms. For Firefighters, a one-bedroom absorbs 50.0% of take-home pay and 38.6% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 4.6% of gross pay for Firefighters in Middlesex County, MA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Massachusetts residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $3,101 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $867, for $3,968 in total. Gasoline in Massachusetts averages $3.33 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,542.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $37,529 a year in Middlesex County, MA. Subtract that from $57,123 of take-home pay and $19,594 remains, which is $1,633 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 26.5% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Middlesex County, MA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Middlesex County, MA: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Middlesex County, MA, set beside the Massachusetts and national medians.
Property taxes in Middlesex County, MA
Homeowners in Middlesex County, MA pay a median of $7,501 a year in real estate taxes, 25% above the Massachusetts median of $5,992 and 140% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $727,800, the median tax bill is 1.03% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Firefighters median of $73,990, a tax bill of that size would equal 10.1% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Middlesex County, MA
Renters in Middlesex County, MA pay a median gross rent of $2,201 a month in the Census survey, 25% above the Massachusetts median of $1,762. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $2,382 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $727,800, 29% above the Massachusetts median of $562,100. Median household income is $130,847, 26% above the Massachusetts median of $103,960, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 21.8% of that income.
Commuting in Middlesex County, MA
Workers in Middlesex County, MA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 29.9 minutes each way, 3% above the Massachusetts average of 29.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.0 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 24.7% of workers in Middlesex County, MA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Firefighters afford to live in Middlesex County, MA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $73,990 that ceiling is $1,850 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,382 is $532 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $45.81 an hour; the median for Firefighters is $35.57, which is 22% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $27.46 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 20.0 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,884 a month means $1,442 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $11,280 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $30,874.
How fast you can save
At $1,633 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 7 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 14 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Firefighters pay in Middlesex County, MA
How much do Firefighters make per hour in Middlesex County, MA?
The median is $35.57 per hour, based on $73,990 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $23.89 at the 10th percentile to $56.99 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Firefighters take home after taxes in Middlesex County, MA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $73,990 becomes $57,123 a year. That is $4,760 a month, $2,197 every two weeks or $1,099 a week.
How much tax do Firefighters pay in Middlesex County, MA?
Total taxes are $16,867 a year, an effective rate of 22.8%: $7,727 federal income tax, $5,660 FICA and $3,480 Massachusetts income tax.
Do Firefighters earn more in Middlesex County, MA than elsewhere in Massachusetts?
Yes. The local median of $73,990 is +4.7% versus the Massachusetts average of $70,669, a difference of $3,321 a year.
Can Firefighters afford a one-bedroom apartment in Middlesex County, MA?
A one-bedroom costs $2,382 a month against take-home pay of $4,760, which is 50.0% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,850 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Firefighters in Middlesex County, MA?
About $1,633 a month ($19,594 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $37,529 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Middlesex County, MA at the 30% guideline?
$45.81 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $28,584 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Firefighters is $35.57.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Massachusetts rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.