Cooks, Short Order in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,335
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$6,495
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,461
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
$38,830
Kept after tax
$32,335
Worth in national money
$33,461
State rank
12
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Vermont pays cooks, short order a middle wage of $38,830, ranking 12 of 49 states and sitting about 8.22% above the national middle.
- Within Vermont this is lower-paid work. Of 453 occupations the state publishes figures for, cooks, short order ranks 419. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Vermont does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $38,830 you keep $32,335, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,461 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $41,030, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Vermont's median for cooks, short order is $38,830, about 8.22% above the national figure and 12 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation Vermont reports, cooks, short order ranks 419 of 453, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Vermont income tax, retained pay for cooks, short order on $38,830 is $32,335. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,461 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $41,030 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Cooks, Short Order
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,760 |
| This salary | $38,830 |
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 | $32,335 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,380 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$889 |
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 | $37,530 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,075 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Vermont earn less than $38,830. The published range is $34,990 up to $47,760, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Vermont the take-home figure of $32,335, from $38,830, 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 419 of 453 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $33,461, the adjusted value of that $38,830 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Vermont. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 419 of 453 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for cooks, short order in Vermont the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,990 to $47,760. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Vermont is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,335 from $38,830. 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 419 of 453 locally.
- This $33,461 adjusted figure, worked from $38,830, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 419 of 453 in the state. The occupation ranks 419 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 $41,030 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $34,990 at the tenth percentile, $47,760 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Vermont is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $33,461 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Vermont's own levy, $32,335 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $41,030. 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 ($34,990 to $47,760) 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 $33,461 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 $32,335 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.