Conservation Scientists in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,648
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$14,482
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,586
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
$70,130
Kept after tax
$55,648
Worth in national money
$57,586
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Vermont pays conservation scientists around $70,130 at the midpoint, 32 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Conservation scientists ranks 167 among 453 occupations Vermont publishes pay for.
- Vermont is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $70,130 the take-home is $55,648; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $57,586 would nationally. The average comes to $73,780, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For conservation scientists the Vermont median is $70,130, ranking 32 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 167 of 453 in Vermont places conservation scientists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for conservation scientists in Vermont, on $70,130, is $55,648 — equivalent to $57,586 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $73,780 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Conservation Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $70,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $105,420 |
| This salary | $70,130 |
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 | $55,648 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,166 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,271 |
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 | $66,550 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,137 |
| 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 conservation scientists in Vermont earn under $70,130 and half over. The published range runs $49,750 at the tenth percentile to $105,420 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Vermont the take-home figure of $55,648, from $70,130, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 167 of 453 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Vermont, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $57,586, the adjusted value of that $70,130 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 167 of 453 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for conservation scientists in Vermont, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,750 to $105,420; 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.
- Take-home for Vermont is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $55,648 from $70,130. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 167 of 453 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Vermont, so $57,586 — the adjusted value of that $70,130 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 167 of 453 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $73,780 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $49,750 and the top tenth $105,420 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $57,586 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Vermont then takes its own share, leaving $55,648.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $73,780. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($49,750) and the ninetieth ($105,420) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $57,586 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 $55,648 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.