Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,386
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$11,404
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,070
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
$59,790
Kept after tax
$48,386
Worth in national money
$50,070
State rank
19
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Vermont is 19 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $59,790. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 453 occupations Vermont reports figures for, this is number 237.
- Vermont is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $59,790 the take-home is $48,386; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $50,070 would nationally. The average lands at $56,900, below the middle of the range.
- Vermont ranks 19 of 49 for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining at $59,790. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Vermont's occupational distribution, excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining sits at 237 of 453 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in Vermont, on $59,790, is $48,386 — equivalent to $50,070 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 $56,900 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,050 |
| This salary | $59,790 |
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 | $48,386 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,221 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,611 |
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 | $57,505 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,948 |
| 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 excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in Vermont earn under $59,790 and half over. The published range runs $44,760 at the tenth percentile to $71,050 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Vermont's $48,386, worked from $59,790. 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 237 of 453.
- One number stands for prices across all of Vermont, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $50,070, the adjusted value of that $59,790 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 237 of 453 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in Vermont, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $44,760 to $71,050; 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.
- The Vermont take-home of $48,386, on $59,790 for work ranking 237 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 237 of 453 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Vermont, so $50,070 — the adjusted value of that $59,790 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 237 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 $56,900, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $44,760 and the top tenth $71,050, so most people doing this work in Vermont sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $50,070 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, $48,386 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 $56,900. 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 ($44,760 to $71,050) 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 $50,070 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 $48,386 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.