Mechanical Drafters in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,503
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$15,537
21.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,506
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
$73,040
Kept after tax
$57,503
Worth in national money
$59,506
State rank
16
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Vermont is 16 of 47 states for mechanical drafters, with a middle wage of $73,040. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Mechanical drafters ranks 156 among 453 occupations Vermont publishes pay for.
- Here is where Vermont does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $73,040 you keep $57,503, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $59,506 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $76,120, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Vermont ranks 16 of 47 for mechanical drafters at $73,040. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 156 of 453 in Vermont places mechanical drafters 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 mechanical drafters on $73,040 is $57,503. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $59,506 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 $76,120 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,040 |
| Top tenth earn over | $105,980 |
| This salary | $73,040 |
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 | $57,503 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,214 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,458 |
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 | $69,187 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,396 |
| 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 mechanical drafters in Vermont earn under $73,040 and half over. The published range runs $51,700 at the tenth percentile to $105,980 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 $57,503, worked from $73,040. 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 156 of 453.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $59,506 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 156.
- Figures are distribution medians for mechanical drafters in Vermont, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $51,700 to $105,980; 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 $57,503, on $73,040 for work ranking 156 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 156 of 453 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $59,506, worked from $73,040, 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 156 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 $76,120 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $51,700 and the top tenth $105,980 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $59,506.
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, $57,503 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 $76,120. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($51,700) and the ninetieth ($105,980) 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 $59,506 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 $57,503 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.