What Registered Nurses earn in Worcester County, MA
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $100,240: the median annual pay for Registered Nurses in Worcester County, MA. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $48.19 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Worcester, MA metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $113,910, which is 13.6% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 10,070 people working in this occupation across the Worcester, MA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Worcester County, MA has roughly 867,788 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Registered Nurses in the Worcester, MA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $79,940 a year ($38.43 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $168,870 or more ($81.19 an hour). That is a gap of $88,930 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $89,590 at the 25th percentile and $132,390 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.1 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: $48.19 an hour or $100,240 a year at the median for Worcester County, MA. Before any deductions, that is $8,353 a month, $3,855 every two weeks and $1,928 each week. After taxes the same job pays $35.71 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Worcester County, MA compares
Compared with the Massachusetts average
Pay in Worcester County, MA runs $3,814 below the Massachusetts average of $104,054, a gap of 3.7%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Massachusetts would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Massachusetts, the highest median we track for this job is $106,180 in Middlesex County, MA.
Compared with the national average
Nationally, Registered Nurses earn an employment-weighted average of $99,368 across the contiguous United States, so $100,240 in Worcester County, MA is essentially average. 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 Worcester County, MA
Among the 440 occupations with published wages in Worcester County, MA, Registered Nurses ranks number 90 by median pay, ahead of about 80% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Home Health and Personal Care Aides at $40,870 a year, which is $59,370 less than the median for Registered Nurses.
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 Registered Nurses earning the Worcester County, MA median of $100,240, they add up to $25,962. The result is $74,278 of take-home pay a year ($6,190 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $26 goes to taxes and $74 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 25.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $84,490. 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 $13,502, an effective 13.5% 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 $6,215 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,453. FICA totals $7,668, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Massachusetts
Massachusetts income tax on this salary is $4,792 a year, or 4.8% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 35% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $399 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 Worcester County, MA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Worcester County, MA show an average adjusted gross income of $94,976 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.8% across all filers. Filers in the $100,000 to under $200,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 11.5%, compared with the 13.5% 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 Worcester County, MA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Worcester County, MA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $74,278 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Worcester County, MA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,611 a month ($19,332 a year), and at $2,057 for two bedrooms. For Registered Nurses, a one-bedroom absorbs 26.0% of take-home pay and 19.3% 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 3.4% of gross pay for Registered Nurses in Worcester 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 $28,277 a year in Worcester County, MA. Subtract that from $74,278 of take-home pay and $46,001 remains, which is $3,833 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 45.9% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Registered Nurses afford to live in Worcester 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 $100,240 that ceiling is $2,506 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,611 is $895 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $30.98 an hour; the median for Registered Nurses is $48.19, which is 56% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $35.71 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 10.4 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,057 a month means $1,029 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,990 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $52,991.
How fast you can save
At $3,833 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 3 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 6 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Registered Nurses pay in Worcester County, MA
How much do Registered Nurses make per hour in Worcester County, MA?
The median is $48.19 per hour, based on $100,240 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $38.43 at the 10th percentile to $81.19 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Registered Nurses take home after taxes in Worcester County, MA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $100,240 becomes $74,278 a year. That is $6,190 a month, $2,857 every two weeks or $1,428 a week.
How much tax do Registered Nurses pay in Worcester County, MA?
Total taxes are $25,962 a year, an effective rate of 25.9%: $13,502 federal income tax, $7,668 FICA and $4,792 Massachusetts income tax.
Do Registered Nurses earn more in Worcester County, MA than elsewhere in Massachusetts?
No. The local median of $100,240 is -3.7% versus the Massachusetts average of $104,054, a difference of $3,814 a year.
Can Registered Nurses afford a one-bedroom apartment in Worcester County, MA?
A one-bedroom costs $1,611 a month against take-home pay of $6,190, which is 26.0% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $2,506 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Registered Nurses in Worcester County, MA?
About $3,833 a month ($46,001 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $28,277 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Worcester County, MA at the 30% guideline?
$30.98 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $19,332 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Registered Nurses is $48.19.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Worcester, MA 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.