What Receptionists and Information Clerks earn in Norfolk County, MA
The median pay for Receptionists and Information Clerks in Norfolk County, MA is $43,930 per year, which works out to $21.12 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 Norfolk 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 $43,990, which is 0.1% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 14,320 people working in this occupation across the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Norfolk County, MA has roughly 730,082 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Receptionists and Information Clerks in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $34,870 a year ($16.76 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $55,750 or more ($26.80 an hour). That is a gap of $20,880 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $38,240 at the 25th percentile and $48,100 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 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: $21.12 an hour or $43,930 a year at the median for Norfolk County, MA. Before any deductions, that is $3,661 a month, $1,690 every two weeks and $845 each week. After taxes the same job pays $17.04 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Receptionists and Information Clerks
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Receptionists and Information Clerks this way: "Answer inquiries and provide information to the general public, customers, visitors, and other interested parties regarding activities conducted at establishment and location of departments, offices, and employees within the organization."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Operate telephone switchboard to answer, screen, or forward calls, providing information, taking messages, or scheduling appointments"; "Receive payment and record receipts for services"; "Perform administrative support tasks, such as proofreading, transcribing handwritten information, or operating calculators or computers to work with pay records, invoices, balance sheets, or other documents"; "Greet persons entering establishment, determine nature and purpose of visit, and direct or escort them to specific destinations".
Job outlook for Receptionists and Information Clerks
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 947,500 jobs in 2025 to 931,600 in 2035, a change of -1.7%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 105,100 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 11.1% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $38,010 for this occupation; the Norfolk County, MA median of $43,930 is 15.6% above it.
How pay in Norfolk County, MA compares
Compared with the Massachusetts average
A worker in this occupation in Norfolk County, MA earns $835 more than the Massachusetts average of $43,095, a premium of 1.9%. Over a year that premium is worth $835 before tax and roughly $674 after tax. Within Massachusetts, Norfolk County, MA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Receptionists and Information Clerks is $38,603 across the contiguous United States. At $43,930, Norfolk County, MA pays $5,327 more, which is 13.8% 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 Norfolk County, MA
Among the 581 occupations with published wages in Norfolk County, MA, Receptionists and Information Clerks ranks number 523 by median pay, ahead of about 10% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Natural Sciences Managers at $291,000 a year, which is $247,070 more than the median for Receptionists and Information Clerks.
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 Receptionists and Information Clerks earning the Norfolk County, MA median of $43,930, they add up to $8,480. The result is $35,450 of take-home pay a year ($2,954 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.3%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $28,180. 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 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $3,143, an effective 7.2% of gross pay, well below the 12% 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 $2,724 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $637. FICA totals $3,361, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Massachusetts
Massachusetts income tax on this salary is $1,977 a year, or 4.5% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 63% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $165 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 Norfolk County, MA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Norfolk County, MA show an average adjusted gross income of $167,547 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 19.6% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.8%, compared with the 7.2% 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 Norfolk County, MA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Norfolk County, MA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $35,450 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Norfolk County, MA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $2,514 a month ($30,168 a year), and at $3,004 for two bedrooms. For Receptionists and Information Clerks, a one-bedroom absorbs 85.1% of take-home pay and 68.7% 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 7.8% of gross pay for Receptionists and Information Clerks in Norfolk 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
The basics cost $39,113 a year in Norfolk County, MA, but take-home pay for Receptionists and Information Clerks is $35,450. That is a shortfall of $3,663 a year, or $305 a month, before health care, transportation beyond fuel, debt or savings. Closing the gap would take roughly 215 extra paid hours a year at the take-home hourly rate of $17.04, or a second earner, a cheaper home or a roommate.
Local housing and commute data for Norfolk County, MA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Norfolk 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 Norfolk County, MA, set beside the Massachusetts and national medians.
Property taxes in Norfolk County, MA
Homeowners in Norfolk County, MA pay a median of $7,261 a year in real estate taxes, 21% above the Massachusetts median of $5,992 and 133% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $683,900, the median tax bill is 1.06% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Receptionists and Information Clerks median of $43,930, a tax bill of that size would equal 16.5% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Norfolk County, MA
Renters in Norfolk County, MA pay a median gross rent of $2,149 a month in the Census survey, 22% 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 $2,514 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 $683,900, 22% above the Massachusetts median of $562,100. Median household income is $130,739, 26% above the Massachusetts median of $103,960, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 23.1% of that income.
Commuting in Norfolk County, MA
Workers in Norfolk County, MA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 32.5 minutes each way, 12% above the Massachusetts average of 29.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.4 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 22.8% of workers in Norfolk County, MA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Receptionists and Information Clerks afford to live in Norfolk 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 $43,930 that ceiling is $1,098 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,514 is $1,416 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $48.35 an hour; the median for Receptionists and Information Clerks is $21.12, which is 56% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $17.04 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 34.0 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $3,004 a month means $1,502 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $12,144 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $8,481, which turns the shortfall into a surplus.
How fast you can save
With no monthly margin after the four basics, saving requires a change on one side of the ledger: higher pay than the $43,930 median, lower housing costs than the $2,514 one-bedroom rent, or a second income.
Frequently asked questions about Receptionists and Information Clerks pay in Norfolk County, MA
How much do Receptionists and Information Clerks make per hour in Norfolk County, MA?
The median is $21.12 per hour, based on $43,930 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $16.76 at the 10th percentile to $26.80 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Receptionists and Information Clerks take home after taxes in Norfolk County, MA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $43,930 becomes $35,450 a year. That is $2,954 a month, $1,363 every two weeks or $682 a week.
How much tax do Receptionists and Information Clerks pay in Norfolk County, MA?
Total taxes are $8,480 a year, an effective rate of 19.3%: $3,143 federal income tax, $3,361 FICA and $1,977 Massachusetts income tax.
Do Receptionists and Information Clerks earn more in Norfolk County, MA than elsewhere in Massachusetts?
Yes. The local median of $43,930 is +1.9% versus the Massachusetts average of $43,095, a difference of $835 a year.
Can Receptionists and Information Clerks afford a one-bedroom apartment in Norfolk County, MA?
A one-bedroom costs $2,514 a month against take-home pay of $2,954, which is 85.1% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,098 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Receptionists and Information Clerks in Norfolk County, MA?
Nothing remains: the basics cost $39,113 a year, which is $3,663 more than take-home pay, a monthly shortfall of $305.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Norfolk County, MA at the 30% guideline?
$48.35 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $30,168 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Receptionists and Information Clerks is $21.12.
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.