Live in Vermont, work in Massachusetts
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Massachusetts takes
$2,680
on wages earned there
Vermont takes
$0
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,680
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$830
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
costs youMassachusetts charges more than Vermont would, and Vermont only credits you up to its own bill — so the difference stays with you. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Vermont 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
- Crossing this line costs money. Massachusetts taxes what you earn there. Vermont taxes you too, because you live there, and then gives you credit for what Massachusetts already took. The catch is the size of that credit. It stops at what Vermont would have charged on its own. So you end up paying the bigger of the two bills, which here means $2,680 a year instead of $1,850. The commute itself accounts for $830 of that.
- Counting only the larger flows, 7 states send workers into Massachusetts. Vermont comes in at number 7 with 5,113 jobs, so this crossing is common enough to be routine for payroll departments there.
- Massachusetts taxes wages earned inside its borders by non-residents, and Vermont taxes its residents on the same wages wherever they are earned. The resident credit resolves the overlap but does not erase it: Vermont credits tax paid to Massachusetts only up to what it would itself have charged on that income, so the commuter settles at the higher of the two liabilities rather than the sum. At the reference salary that is $2,680 against $1,850 for the same earner working at home — $830 attributable to the state line itself. ⚠️ The corollary is the part most readers have backwards: moving to a cheaper home state while keeping the job in Massachusetts changes the split between the two treasuries and not the total.
- Massachusetts draws commuters of this scale from 7 states, and Vermont ranks number 7 among them with 5,113 jobs. A work state pulling from that many directions tends to have a well-established non-resident filing routine, which is a practical convenience rather than a tax saving.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$2,840
- Yours$58,753
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax3.79% | $2,840 |
| Yours78.34% | $58,753 |
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
| Massachusetts takes, on wages earned there | $2,680 |
|---|---|
| Vermont charges its residents | $1,850 |
| Less the credit Vermont gives | $1,850 |
| Total state tax | $2,680 |
| If you also worked in Vermont | $1,850 |
| Difference | $830 |
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
- City wage taxes are not in these numbers. A few places charge them, and where they do the money is real. If your job in Massachusetts is inside a city that taxes workers, add that on top. Where it is not, the state figures above are the whole of it for Vermont residents.
- Two assumptions sit under this page. First, that Massachusetts is where all your pay comes from. Second, that you go there rather than working from your kitchen in Vermont. Mixed income changes how the credit is worked out, and remote days have their own rules in some states.
- The dollars rest on one assumed salary of sixty thousand. Double your pay and they do not simply double, because both states charge more on higher slices of income. What tends to stay put is which side of the Vermont and Massachusetts comparison you are on.
- 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 Massachusetts or Vermont carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Massachusetts and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Vermont limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Massachusetts portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Massachusetts 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 Vermont to Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts'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 Vermont and Massachusetts?
You file in both states, but you do not pay the full amount to both. Vermont credits the tax Massachusetts 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.
Would moving out of Vermont lower my state tax if I keep working in Massachusetts?
Probably not, and this is the part people get wrong. Massachusetts taxes the wages because that is where you earn them, whoever you are and wherever you sleep. Your home state only ever credits you up to its own bill. So moving somewhere cheaper changes which government keeps the money, not how much leaves your pay. What would change it is the job moving, not you.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Vermont and Massachusetts?
Two returns is the normal outcome here, even when only one state ends up taking anything. Massachusetts generally wants to see a non-resident return from people who work there, and Vermont wants your whole picture. It is paperwork rather than extra tax.
What if I work from home in Vermont some days instead of going to Massachusetts?
It depends on the state, and the answer is not the one most people expect. You might assume a day worked at your kitchen table in Vermont is taxed by Vermont. Usually that is right, and your Massachusetts share shrinks to the days you were actually there. But a few states tax days you work at home as though you had been in the office, unless your employer required you to be elsewhere. It is worth checking which kind Massachusetts is before assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Massachusetts on a source basis, Vermont 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.
Does changing residence reduce combined liability while the work state is unchanged?
No, while the source state is unchanged. Massachusetts's claim arises from where the services are performed and is unaffected by residence. Because the residence credit is capped at the residence state's own liability, combined liability equals the greater of the two — so substituting a lower-tax residence reduces the residence-state component toward zero while leaving the total at Massachusetts's level. The binding variable is the work location, not the home one.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Vermont requires a resident return reporting all income; Massachusetts 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 Vermont fall outside Massachusetts'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 Massachusetts throughout.