Massachusetts vs New Hampshire taxes

Everything on one side

On $75,000 a single filer keeps $61,593 in New Hampshire and $57,718 in Massachusetts: $3,875 a year more in New Hampshire, about $323 a month. A New Hampshire payslip carries federal deductions only. Its paid family and medical leave plan is voluntary, so nothing is withheld unless you enroll.

The gap is two Massachusetts lines:

• Income tax, $3,530 on $75,000. The rate is a flat 5%, and Massachusetts has no standard deduction, only a personal exemption of $4,400, so nearly the whole salary is taxed.
• The Paid Family and Medical Leave premium, 0.46% of wages up to $184,500: $345 on $75,000.

Because the rate is flat, the gap is close to a fixed share of pay: $2,510 on $50,000, $7,970 on $150,000 and $13,129 on $250,000. The premium stops growing at its wage cap, which is the only thing that bends the line. A married couple filing jointly on $150,000 keeps $7,750 more in New Hampshire; their exemption is twice a single filer’s, which is why the figure is a little lower. Above the indexed threshold of $1,107,750 of taxable income, Massachusetts adds its 4% surtax.

Living in New Hampshire, working in Massachusetts

This is where the comparison above stops applying to a large share of southern New Hampshire. Income tax follows where the work is done.

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue treats as Massachusetts source income the wages, salaries, bonuses and other pay a nonresident earns for work carried on in Massachusetts, wherever it is paid. A New Hampshire resident who works in Boston every working day pays Massachusetts income tax on all of those wages, much as a Massachusetts resident would. New Hampshire has no income tax, so there is no home-state credit to set against it.

For someone who works partly in each state, Massachusetts divides the pay by working days: days spent working in Massachusetts over total working days, with weekends, holidays, sick days, vacation and leave left out of the count. Only that share is taxed there. So the saving from living in New Hampshire scales with the days you actually work there: a hybrid schedule with two home days a week keeps New Hampshire’s advantage on roughly two-fifths of the salary.

What living in New Hampshire does buy a full-time commuter is outside the paycheck: New Hampshire has no general sales tax. Its towns lean heavily on property tax instead, and the rate varies sharply from one town to the next.

What the take-home figure does not count

Property tax, housing costs and the commute itself differ widely between the two states and within them, and in New Hampshire the property tax bill on a particular home can outweigh much of the income tax saving. This page compares only what is taken from wages, for someone who lives and works in the same state.

Questions people ask

Do you take home more in Massachusetts or New Hampshire on $75,000?

New Hampshire, by $3,875 a year, or $323 a month, for a single filer in 2026. That counts federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax and every state payroll deduction.

Is the difference the same at every salary?

No, but the same side stays ahead. The gap is $1,418 a year at $30,000 and $13,129 at $250,000, for a single filer.

Does any city or town in either state levy an income tax?

No. No Massachusetts city or town levies one, and neither does any New Hampshire municipality, so both columns hold anywhere in their state, Boston and Nashua alike.

I live in New Hampshire and work from home some days for a Massachusetts employer. What is taxed?

Massachusetts taxes the part of your wages earned for work done in Massachusetts. If you work both inside and outside the state, you divide your pay by working days: days worked in Massachusetts over total working days. Days you genuinely work in New Hampshire fall outside it. Keep a record of where you worked each day.

Does New Hampshire tax investment income?

Not any more. The Interest and Dividends Tax was repealed for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025, so New Hampshire now taxes no personal income of any kind. Massachusetts taxes interest, dividends and long-term gains at 5% and short-term gains at 8.5%.

What this comparison covers

Income tax and payroll deductions on wages: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax, every state payroll deduction. It does not compare sales tax, property tax, housing or the cost of living, which can outweigh the difference in take-home pay. Figures assume the standard deduction, no dependents and no pre-tax retirement contributions. See how we calculate.