Waiters and Waitresses salary in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

The figures

The median Waiters and Waitresses in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area earns $39,270 a year ($18.88 an hour), according to the BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates (full citation in Sources). The middle half of Waiters and Waitresses in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH earn between $35,880 and $45,910 a year. At the ends of the distribution, the lowest-paid 10 percent earn $31,930 or less and the top 10 percent earn $64,150 or more. BLS estimates 41,570 Waiters and Waitresses jobs in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area — 15.374 of every 1,000 jobs in the area, a location quotient of 1.05 (about the same concentration as the nation). That is 1.8% of all Waiters and Waitresses employment in the United States (2,270,910 jobs nationally). By employment, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH is the #10 largest of the 25 covered metro areas for Waiters and Waitresses. In aggregate, Waiters and Waitresses in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH earn about $1.88 billion a year (BLS employment multiplied by the mean wage). At the mean wage, the engine's take-home is $36,663.54 a year, so the aggregate take-home of Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Waiters and Waitresses is about $1.52 billion. BLS reports a relative standard error of 4.2% for this employment estimate. Ranked by median pay, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH stands #7 of the 25 metro areas covered on this site for Waiters and Waitresses. By employment, Waiters and Waitresses is the #9 largest of the 30 covered occupations in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH. Placed against the national distribution for Waiters and Waitresses, the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH median of $39,270 falls between the national median ($35,230) and the national 75th percentile ($47,110). Across all occupations, the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH median is $66,620 a year — Waiters and Waitresses pay is 41.1% below the area's overall median.

Wages in detail

What the wage distribution says

The top 10 percent of Waiters and Waitresses in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH earn 2.0 times what the bottom 10 percent earn ($64,150 against $31,930). The middle half spans $10,030 — from $35,880 to $45,910. Hourly, the 90th percentile ($30.84) is 2.01 times the 10th ($15.35). In the upper half of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH distribution, the 75th percentile wage of $45,910 takes home $37,093.14 and the 90th percentile wage of $64,150 takes home $50,836.96 — $13,743.82 more net for $18,240 more gross. Against the median take-home of $32,090.10, the top decile keeps 1.58 times as much. The mean wage of $45,340 sits 15.5% above the median: higher-paid Waiters and Waitresses pull the average up in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH. Among the 30 covered occupations in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, Waiters and Waitresses ranks #26 by median pay. In the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH wage ladder of covered occupations, Waiters and Waitresses sits between Home Health and Personal Care Aides at $40,910 and Stockers and Order Fillers at $37,700. Waiters and Waitresses accounts for 1.5% of all employment in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area. The average covered metro employs 39,482 Waiters and Waitresses; Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH employs 1.1 times that.

Take-home pay on the median wage in Massachusetts

Single filer, no dependents, no pre-tax contributions, paid biweekly, a full year of W-2 wages in Massachusetts; city and local taxes are not included:

At the median, $32,090.10 of the $39,270 gross is kept ($1,234.23 per paycheck) — a deduction rate of 18.28%. The deduction rate moves with pay: 16.82% at the 10th percentile, 17.68% at the 25th percentile, 19.20% at the 75th percentile, 20.75% at the 90th percentile. Between the 25th and 75th percentile wages, annual take-home rises by $7,557.40 on a gross rise of $10,030.

The same engine at the other published points of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH wage distribution:

Across the published distribution, take-home pay runs from $26,559.18 a year at the 10th percentile to $50,836.96 at the 90th — a spread of $24,277.78 of net pay inside one occupation and one metro area.

For scale: across all occupations, the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH median wage of $66,620 takes home $52,686.34 a year ($2,026.40 per paycheck, deduction rate 20.92%). The Waiters and Waitresses median take-home of $32,090.10 sits $20,596.24 (below that area-wide figure.

Multi-state metro area. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH also covers parts of New Hampshire. The take-home estimate above uses Massachusetts rules — the metro area's primary state. If the job is based in another part of the metro area, the state tax changes: see the New Hampshire paycheck calculator.

Run your own numbers

Your own withholding depends on your Form W-4, your benefits and your other income — run your exact figures through the calculator:

Take-home pay for $39,270 in Massachusetts

Against the national median

Nationally, the median Waiters and Waitresses earns $35,230 a year ($16.94 an hour). The Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH median of $39,270 is $4,040 (11.5%) above the national median.

The means rank the area the same way: $45,340 a year in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH against $40,060 nationally, a gap of $5,280 (13.2%).

Set against the whole local market, the Waiters and Waitresses 90th percentile of $64,150 is 38% of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH all-occupations 90th percentile ($168,090), and its 10th percentile of $31,930 is 87% of the area-wide 10th ($36,760).

Sources and method

Wage data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates (released May 15, 2026), retrieved October 27, 2026 — bls.gov/oes. OEWS figures are survey estimates for May 2025, not job offers. Take-home pay is computed by this site's paycheck engine with 2026 federal and state rules; the method, and what the engine does not model, is documented in the paycheck methodology guide. Estimates only — not tax advice.