Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,321
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$6,789
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,481
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
$40,110
Kept after tax
$33,321
Worth in national money
$34,481
State rank
18
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Vermont sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $40,110, ranking 18 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Vermont, this one sits low: 412 of 453 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $40,110 you keep $33,321 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $34,481 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $43,240, since top earners drag the number up.
- Vermont occupies the middle band for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers: a median of $40,110, ranking 18 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers occupies position 412 of 453 in Vermont's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Vermont is $33,321 after the full tax stack, from $40,110. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,481 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $43,240 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,580 |
| This salary | $40,110 |
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 | $33,321 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,408 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$927 |
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 | $38,757 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,122 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $40,110 as a midpoint for Vermont, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,140 and the ninetieth is $55,580 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $33,321 take-home in Vermont comes from $40,110. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 412 of 453.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,481 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 412.
- The Vermont median of $40,110 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,140 to $55,580. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $33,321, from $40,110, assumes a single Vermont filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 412 of 453 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,481, worked from $40,110, 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 412 of 453 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $43,240, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $29,140 at the bottom tenth to $55,580 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Vermont sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $34,481 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Vermont then takes its own share, leaving $33,321.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $43,240. 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 ($29,140 to $55,580) 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 $34,481 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 $33,321 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.