Typical comp shape
Technical recruiters usually earn rsu (smaller grants). Common employers include Alphabet, Meta, Amazon.
What Massachusetts changes
In Massachusetts, every RSU vest, NSO exercise, and ESPP purchase carries 9% state tax on top of federal. For a senior technical recruiter with $300k+ of equity income, the state layer routinely adds $25-45k to the annual bill.
Planning cadence
For a technical recruiter in Massachusetts, the three planning windows are: after each RSU vest (withholding check and sell-vs-hold), before any ISO exercise (AMT model at federal only), and in Q4 (estimated tax top-up to clear the safe harbor).