Detectives and Criminal Investigators in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,726
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$27,604
26.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$81,467
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
$106,330
Kept after tax
$78,726
Worth in national money
$81,467
State rank
12
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Vermont pays this job a middle wage of $106,330, ranking 12 of 51 states and sitting about 13.37% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Vermont. It ranks 40 out of 453 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Vermont does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $106,330 you keep $78,726, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $81,467 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $104,220, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Vermont's median for detectives and criminal investigators is $106,330, about 13.37% above the national figure and 12 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, detectives and criminal investigators ranks 40 of 453 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Vermont income tax, retained pay for detectives and criminal investigators on $106,330 is $78,726. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $81,467 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 $104,220 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Detectives and Criminal Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $106,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $153,670 |
| This salary | $106,330 |
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 | $78,726 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $83,633 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,597 |
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 | $99,354 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,350 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $106,330 as a midpoint for Vermont, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $65,690 and the ninetieth is $153,670 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Vermont's $78,726, worked from $106,330. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 40 of 453.
- One number stands for prices across all of Vermont, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $81,467, the adjusted value of that $106,330 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 40 of 453 in the state.
- The Vermont median of $106,330 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $65,690 to $153,670. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Vermont take-home of $78,726, on $106,330 for work ranking 40 of 453 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 40 of 453 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Vermont, so $81,467 — the adjusted value of that $106,330 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 40 of 453 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $65,690, the highest tenth $153,670, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $81,467 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, $78,726 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($65,690) and the ninetieth ($153,670) 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 $81,467 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 $78,726 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.