What Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers earn in Plymouth County, MA
According to the latest federal wage data for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area, the median pay for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in Plymouth County, MA is $58,210 a year, or $27.99 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $46,210 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Plymouth County, MA.
The mean wage is $59,530, which is 2.3% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 7,800 people working in this occupation across the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Plymouth County, MA has roughly 535,075 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $41,070 a year ($19.75 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $79,840 or more ($38.38 an hour). That is a gap of $38,770 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $48,480 at the 25th percentile and $68,130 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.9 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: $27.99 an hour or $58,210 a year at the median for Plymouth County, MA. Before any deductions, that is $4,851 a month, $2,239 every two weeks and $1,119 each week. After taxes the same job pays $22.22 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers this way: "Inspect, test, sort, sample, or weigh nonagricultural raw materials or processed, machined, fabricated, or assembled parts or products for defects, wear, and deviations from specifications. May use precision measuring instruments and complex test equipment."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Discard or reject products, materials, or equipment not meeting specifications"; "Inspect, test, or measure materials, products, installations, or work for conformance to specifications"; "Record inspection or test data, such as weights, temperatures, grades, or moisture content, and quantities inspected or graded"; "Mark items with details, such as grade or acceptance-rejection status".
Job outlook for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 602,000 jobs in 2025 to 617,200 in 2035, a change of +2.5%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 66,700 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: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $48,570 for this occupation; the Plymouth County, MA median of $58,210 is 19.8% above it.
How pay in Plymouth County, MA compares
Compared with the Massachusetts average
A worker in this occupation in Plymouth County, MA earns $3,324 more than the Massachusetts average of $54,886, a premium of 6.1%. Over a year that premium is worth $3,324 before tax and roughly $2,638 after tax. Within Massachusetts, Plymouth County, MA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers is $49,892 across the contiguous United States. At $58,210, Plymouth County, MA pays $8,318 more, which is 16.7% 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 Plymouth County, MA
Among the 581 occupations with published wages in Plymouth County, MA, Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers ranks number 393 by median pay, ahead of about 32% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Natural Sciences Managers at $291,000 a year, which is $232,790 more than the median for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers.
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 Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers earning the Plymouth County, MA median of $58,210, they add up to $12,000. The result is $46,210 of take-home pay a year ($3,851 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $21 goes to taxes and $79 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 20.6%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $42,460. 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 $4,857, an effective 8.3% 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 $3,609 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $844. FICA totals $4,453, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Massachusetts
Massachusetts income tax on this salary is $2,691 a year, or 4.6% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 55% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $224 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 Plymouth County, MA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Plymouth County, MA show an average adjusted gross income of $114,703 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 15.9% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.8%, compared with the 8.3% 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 Plymouth County, MA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Plymouth County, MA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $46,210 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Plymouth County, MA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $2,185 a month ($26,220 a year), and at $2,713 for two bedrooms. For Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers, a one-bedroom absorbs 56.7% of take-home pay and 45.0% 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 5.9% of gross pay for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in Plymouth 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 $35,165 a year in Plymouth County, MA. Subtract that from $46,210 of take-home pay and $11,045 remains, which is $920 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 19.0% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Plymouth County, MA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Plymouth 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 Plymouth County, MA, set beside the Massachusetts and national medians.
Property taxes in Plymouth County, MA
Homeowners in Plymouth County, MA pay a median of $6,502 a year in real estate taxes, 9% above the Massachusetts median of $5,992 and 108% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $556,000, the median tax bill is 1.17% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers median of $58,210, a tax bill of that size would equal 11.2% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Plymouth County, MA
Renters in Plymouth County, MA pay a median gross rent of $1,747 a month in the Census survey, in line with the Massachusetts median of $1,762. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $2,185 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 $556,000, 1% below the Massachusetts median of $562,100. Median household income is $114,201, 10% above the Massachusetts median of $103,960, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 23.0% of that income.
Commuting in Plymouth County, MA
Workers in Plymouth 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. 16.2% of workers in Plymouth County, MA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers afford to live in Plymouth 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 $58,210 that ceiling is $1,455 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,185 is $730 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $42.02 an hour; the median for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers is $27.99, which is 33% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $22.22 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 22.7 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,713 a month means $1,357 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $9,942 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $20,987.
How fast you can save
At $920 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 11 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 22 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers pay in Plymouth County, MA
How much do Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers make per hour in Plymouth County, MA?
The median is $27.99 per hour, based on $58,210 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $19.75 at the 10th percentile to $38.38 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers take home after taxes in Plymouth County, MA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $58,210 becomes $46,210 a year. That is $3,851 a month, $1,777 every two weeks or $889 a week.
How much tax do Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers pay in Plymouth County, MA?
Total taxes are $12,000 a year, an effective rate of 20.6%: $4,857 federal income tax, $4,453 FICA and $2,691 Massachusetts income tax.
Do Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers earn more in Plymouth County, MA than elsewhere in Massachusetts?
Yes. The local median of $58,210 is +6.1% versus the Massachusetts average of $54,886, a difference of $3,324 a year.
Can Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Plymouth County, MA?
A one-bedroom costs $2,185 a month against take-home pay of $3,851, which is 56.7% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,455 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in Plymouth County, MA?
About $920 a month ($11,045 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $35,165 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Plymouth County, MA at the 30% guideline?
$42.02 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $26,220 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers is $27.99.
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.