Updated July 2026 · 8 min read
Part of the Travel Nurse Tax Hub — browse every related guide in one place.
Massachusetts is refreshingly simple for a high-cost Northeast state: one flat income-tax rate, no separate city income tax on your paycheck, and a clean non-resident return. The one wrinkle — the "millionaire surtax" — almost never touches a travel nurse, but it's worth knowing exactly where the line sits so you can see that it doesn't apply to you. Boston contracts pay well, and the tax math here is easier than in New York or California.
Massachusetts applies a flat 5% rate to most income, including your travel-nurse wages. There are no graduated brackets to work through: whether you earn $60,000 or $120,000 on the assignment, the state rate on that wage income is 5%. That predictability is a genuine plus. It's higher than a low-flat state like Arizona (2.5%) or Pennsylvania (3.07%), but noticeably lower than Oregon's 9.9% top rate or California's steep graduated schedule — and the flat structure means you can estimate your Massachusetts tax on the back of a napkin.
| Feature | Massachusetts 2026 |
|---|---|
| State income tax | Flat 5% |
| Millionaire surtax | +4% only on income over $1M |
| City/local income tax | None (Boston included) |
| Non-resident return | Form 1-NR/PY |
| Reciprocity | None |
| Taxes stipends? | No — if tax home is legitimate |
In 2023 Massachusetts added a 4% surtax on the portion of annual income above $1 million (the threshold is inflation-indexed, so it's slightly higher now). It's often called the "Fair Share Amendment" or "millionaire tax." For a travel nurse this is almost always a non-issue: even at premium crisis rates, annual gross taxable wages don't approach seven figures. The only realistic way it could matter is a one-off event unrelated to nursing — a large capital gain from selling property or investments in the same year, for instance — that pushes your total income over the $1M line. For ordinary contract income, plan on a flat 5% and nothing more.
Unlike New York, where a Manhattan assignment can trigger a city resident tax, Massachusetts has no municipal income tax. Boston, Worcester, Cambridge, Springfield — none of them tax your wages at the city level. What you owe is the state 5% and that's it on the income side. This makes Boston contracts cleaner than they first appear; the high pay reflects the region's cost of living, not a hidden local tax layered on top.
As a non-resident you're taxed on Massachusetts-source income — the wages you earn working in the state. You file Form 1-NR/PY (Nonresident/Part-Year Resident return), which apportions your tax to the Massachusetts share of your income. Income you earned on assignments in other states, or before and after your Massachusetts contract, isn't taxed here. Keep clear documentation of your assignment dates and locations so the apportionment is easy to support if questioned.
The tax-free housing and meals-and-incidentals stipends are the core of travel-nurse take-home, and Massachusetts follows the federal treatment: if the stipends are legitimately tax-free federally, the state doesn't tax them either. The requirement is the same everywhere — you must maintain a genuine tax home elsewhere, be duplicating living expenses, and not overstay in one metro to the point that it becomes your tax home. Given Boston's high housing costs, the housing stipend is usually substantial, which makes protecting its tax-free status especially valuable. Our tax-home rules guide walks through exactly what "legitimate tax home" means.
Massachusetts has no reciprocity agreements with neighboring states, including the many nurses who live in New Hampshire (which has no wage income tax) and commute to Boston-area jobs. Living in New Hampshire doesn't exempt your Massachusetts wages — the state taxes income earned within its borders regardless of where you sleep. Conversely, if your tax home is elsewhere and you work a Massachusetts contract, you'll file the non-resident return and pay the flat 5% on that Massachusetts income only.
Related: Travel nurse taxes in New York · Travel nurse taxes in Pennsylvania · Tax-home rules
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