Couriers and Messengers in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,548
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$8,052
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,856
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
$45,600
Kept after tax
$37,548
Worth in national money
$38,856
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Vermont pays couriers and messengers a middle wage of $45,600, ranking 3 of 51 states and sitting about 16.33% above the national middle.
- Against 453 occupations Vermont publishes, couriers and messengers lands at 380. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Vermont is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $45,600 the take-home is $37,548; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $38,856 would nationally. The average lands at $43,570, below the middle of the range.
- Vermont's median for couriers and messengers is $45,600, about 16.33% above the national figure and 3 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Vermont, this work ranks 380 of 453 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for couriers and messengers in Vermont, on $45,600, is $37,548 — equivalent to $38,856 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 $43,570 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Couriers and Messengers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,600 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,140 |
| This salary | $45,600 |
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 | $37,548 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,820 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,092 |
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 | $44,018 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,321 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,600 as a midpoint for Vermont, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,190 and the ninetieth is $46,140 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Vermont the take-home figure of $37,548, from $45,600, 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 380 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 $38,856, the adjusted value of that $45,600 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 380 of 453 in the state.
- The Vermont median of $45,600 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,190 to $46,140. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Vermont is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,548 from $45,600. 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 380 of 453 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Vermont, so $38,856 — the adjusted value of that $45,600 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 380 of 453 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $43,570, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,190 at the tenth percentile, $46,140 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 $38,856 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, $37,548 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $43,570. 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 ($36,190 to $46,140) 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 $38,856 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 $37,548 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.