Cargo and Freight Agents in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,057
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$8,503
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,418
Vermont costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Vermont — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$47,560
Kept after tax
$39,057
Worth in national money
$40,418
State rank
43
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Vermont is among the lower-paying states for cargo and freight agents. The middle earner takes $47,560, ranking 43 of 48 states — about 8.99% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Vermont, this one sits low: 350 of 453 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $47,560 you keep $39,057 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $40,418 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $51,950, since top earners drag the number up.
- Vermont ranks 43 of 48 for cargo and freight agents, with a median of $47,560 — about 8.99% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Cargo and freight agents occupies position 350 of 453 in Vermont's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Vermont is $39,057 after the full tax stack, from $47,560. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $40,418 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $51,950 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Cargo and Freight Agents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,320 |
| This salary | $47,560 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Vermont | $39,057 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,394 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,151 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $45,896 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,392 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of cargo and freight agents in Vermont earn under $47,560 and half over. The published range runs $42,160 at the tenth percentile to $61,320 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,057 take-home in Vermont comes from $47,560. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 350 of 453.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,418 uses one figure for the whole of Vermont. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 453 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 350.
- Figures are distribution medians for cargo and freight agents in Vermont, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,160 to $61,320; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $39,057, from $47,560, assumes a single Vermont filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 350 of 453 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,418, worked from $47,560, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Vermont address, on work sitting at 350 of 453 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $51,950, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,160 at the bottom tenth to $61,320 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Vermont sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $40,418 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Vermont adds its own income tax on top — which is why $39,057 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Vermont is $51,950. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,160 to $61,320) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Vermont rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Vermont's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $40,418 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $39,057 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Vermont income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.