Crane and Tower Operators in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,325
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$15,435
21.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,321
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
$72,760
Kept after tax
$57,325
Worth in national money
$59,321
State rank
20
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Vermont is 20 of 50 states for crane and tower operators, with a middle wage of $72,760. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Crane and tower operators ranks 157 among 453 occupations Vermont publishes pay for.
- Here is where Vermont does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $72,760 you keep $57,325, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $59,321 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $75,930, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Vermont ranks 20 of 50 for crane and tower operators at $72,760. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 157 of 453 in Vermont places crane and tower operators 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.
- After federal, FICA and Vermont income tax, retained pay for crane and tower operators on $72,760 is $57,325. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $59,321 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 $75,930 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Crane and Tower Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $105,910 |
| This salary | $72,760 |
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 | $57,325 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,017 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,440 |
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 | $68,934 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,371 |
| 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 $72,760. The published range is $61,070 up to $105,910, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Vermont the take-home figure of $57,325, from $72,760, 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 157 of 453 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $59,321 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 157.
- Reported values are medians; for crane and tower operators in Vermont the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $61,070 to $105,910. 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 $57,325 from $72,760. 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 157 of 453 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $59,321, worked from $72,760, 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 157 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 $75,930 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 — $61,070 at the tenth percentile, $105,910 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 $59,321 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, $57,325 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $75,930. 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 ($61,070 to $105,910) 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 $59,321 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 $57,325 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.