Live in Massachusetts, work in Vermont
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Vermont takes
$1,850
on wages earned there
Massachusetts takes
$830
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,680
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$0
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
credit covers itMassachusetts charges more, so its credit covers everything Vermont takes. Both states collect; your total does not change. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Massachusetts bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- Good news for this route. Working in Vermont costs you nothing extra, because Massachusetts charges more than Vermont does and gives you credit for everything Vermont takes. Your year comes to $2,680, the same as if you never left Massachusetts for work. What changes is the paperwork, not the money — two states will want a return from you.
- 5,482 jobs is the size of this crossing from Massachusetts into Vermont. Smaller than the famous ones, and governed identically. The only practical difference is familiarity — fewer people at your workplace will have done this before.
- Both states tax these wages and the commuter pays no more than they would have at home. Vermont takes its non-resident share first — $1,850 at the reference salary — and Massachusetts, whose own liability on the same income is the larger of the two, credits that amount in full and collects the balance. The total is $2,680, identical to what an earner living and working in Massachusetts would owe. ⚠️ The money is split between two treasuries rather than reduced, which matters at filing time: two state returns, not one.
- This is a smaller corridor by national standards — 5,482 jobs in Vermont held by Massachusetts residents — but the rules that govern it are the same rules that govern the largest ones. Corridor size changes how familiar an employer's payroll department is with the paperwork, never the tax treatment.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$3,430
- Yours$58,163
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax4.57% | $3,430 |
| Yours77.55% | $58,163 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| Vermont takes, on wages earned there | $1,850 |
|---|---|
| Massachusetts charges its residents | $2,680 |
| Less the credit Massachusetts gives | $1,850 |
| Total state tax | $2,680 |
| If you also worked in Massachusetts | $2,680 |
| Difference | $0 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- One thing this page leaves out: city taxes. Some cities charge their own tax on people who work there, and it sits on top of everything above. Philadelphia is the well-known one. New York City only charges its own residents, so commuting in adds nothing. Check whether the city you work in is one that charges, because the Vermont state figure is not the whole story if it does.
- Two assumptions sit under this page. First, that Vermont is where all your pay comes from. Second, that you go there rather than working from your kitchen in Massachusetts. Mixed income changes how the credit is worked out, and remote days have their own rules in some states.
- Sixty thousand a year is the assumption behind these amounts, chosen because nobody publishes average pay for a route between two states. At your own salary the numbers shift. The conclusion about which of Massachusetts and Vermont takes more usually does not, but the size of the difference can.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether Vermont or Massachusetts carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Vermont and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Massachusetts limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Vermont portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Vermont rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the Massachusetts to Vermont comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in Vermont's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to Massachusetts and Vermont?
You file in both states, but you do not pay the full amount to both. Massachusetts credits the tax Vermont collected, capped at its own charge on that income. The practical result is one bill at the higher of the two levels: $2,680 for the year.
Does working in Vermont cost me anything extra?
No. The state line is real on a map and invisible on your pay stub here. Your total is $2,680 either way. Keep the paperwork in mind though: crossing a line usually means filing twice even when it changes nothing.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Massachusetts and Vermont?
Expect two. Living in Massachusetts means filing there on everything you earn. Working in Vermont usually means filing there as well, on the part you earned inside it. The second one is often how the credit gets claimed, so skipping it can cost you money you are owed.
What if I work from home in Massachusetts some days instead of going to Vermont?
Working from home usually moves that day's pay out of Vermont and into Massachusetts alone. A handful of states disagree and tax remote days as if you had commuted. This page assumes you actually travel to Vermont, so if a lot of your week is at home the split will differ from what you see here.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Vermont on a source basis, Massachusetts on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $2,680 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Why is the marginal state-tax cost of this crossing zero?
Marginal cost is zero because the binding liability is the residence state's. Massachusetts's own charge on this income equals or exceeds Vermont's, so the resident credit absorbs the source-state tax entirely and combined liability equals residence-only liability, $2,680. ⚠️ Zero marginal tax is not zero obligation: a non-resident return may still be required in Vermont.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Massachusetts requires a resident return reporting all income; Vermont requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from Massachusetts fall outside Vermont's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in Vermont throughout.