What Medical Assistants earn in Plymouth County, MA
The median pay for Medical Assistants in Plymouth County, MA is $50,740 per year, which works out to $24.39 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 Plymouth 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 $53,270, which is 5.0% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 10,750 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 Medical Assistants in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $46,070 a year ($22.15 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $62,500 or more ($30.05 an hour). That is a gap of $16,430 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $47,950 at the 25th percentile and $59,160 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.4 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: $24.39 an hour or $50,740 a year at the median for Plymouth County, MA. Before any deductions, that is $4,228 a month, $1,952 every two weeks and $976 each week. After taxes the same job pays $19.51 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Medical Assistants
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Medical Assistants this way: "Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes. Clinical duties may include taking and recording vital signs and medical histories, preparing patients for examination, drawing blood, and administering medications as directed by physician."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height"; "Show patients to examination rooms and prepare them for the physician"; "Record patients' medical history, vital statistics, or information such as test results in medical records"; "Prepare and administer medications as directed by a physician".
Job outlook for Medical Assistants
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 833,900 jobs in 2025 to 941,500 in 2035, a change of +12.9%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 109,700 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 13.2% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: postsecondary nondegree award. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $45,690 for this occupation; the Plymouth County, MA median of $50,740 is 11.1% above it.
How pay in Plymouth County, MA compares
Compared with the Massachusetts average
A worker in this occupation in Plymouth County, MA earns $1,432 more than the Massachusetts average of $49,308, a premium of 2.9%. Over a year that premium is worth $1,432 before tax and roughly $1,145 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 Medical Assistants is $45,253 across the contiguous United States. At $50,740, Plymouth County, MA pays $5,487 more, which is 12.1% 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, Medical Assistants ranks number 441 by median pay, ahead of about 24% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Natural Sciences Managers at $291,000 a year, which is $240,260 more than the median for Medical Assistants.
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 Medical Assistants earning the Plymouth County, MA median of $50,740, they add up to $10,159. The result is $40,581 of take-home pay a year ($3,382 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $20 goes to taxes and $80 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 20.0%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $34,990. 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 $3,960, an effective 7.8% 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 $3,146 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $736. FICA totals $3,882, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Massachusetts
Massachusetts income tax on this salary is $2,317 a year, or 4.6% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 59% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $193 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 7.8% 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 $40,581 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 Medical Assistants, a one-bedroom absorbs 64.6% of take-home pay and 51.7% 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 6.8% of gross pay for Medical Assistants 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 $40,581 of take-home pay and $5,416 remains, which is $451 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 10.7% 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 Medical Assistants median of $50,740, a tax bill of that size would equal 12.8% 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 Medical Assistants 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 $50,740 that ceiling is $1,268 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,185 is $917 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 Medical Assistants is $24.39, which is 42% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $19.51 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 25.8 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 $15,358.
How fast you can save
At $451 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 23 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 46 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Medical Assistants pay in Plymouth County, MA
How much do Medical Assistants make per hour in Plymouth County, MA?
The median is $24.39 per hour, based on $50,740 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $22.15 at the 10th percentile to $30.05 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Medical Assistants take home after taxes in Plymouth County, MA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $50,740 becomes $40,581 a year. That is $3,382 a month, $1,561 every two weeks or $780 a week.
How much tax do Medical Assistants pay in Plymouth County, MA?
Total taxes are $10,159 a year, an effective rate of 20.0%: $3,960 federal income tax, $3,882 FICA and $2,317 Massachusetts income tax.
Do Medical Assistants earn more in Plymouth County, MA than elsewhere in Massachusetts?
Yes. The local median of $50,740 is +2.9% versus the Massachusetts average of $49,308, a difference of $1,432 a year.
Can Medical Assistants afford a one-bedroom apartment in Plymouth County, MA?
A one-bedroom costs $2,185 a month against take-home pay of $3,382, which is 64.6% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,268 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Medical Assistants in Plymouth County, MA?
About $451 a month ($5,416 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 Medical Assistants is $24.39.
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.