Mechanical Engineers in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,363
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$27,967
26.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$82,127
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
$107,330
Kept after tax
$79,363
Worth in national money
$82,127
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Vermont pays mechanical engineers a middle wage of $107,330, ranking 15 of 51 states and sitting about 3.09% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 453 occupations Vermont reports, mechanical engineers comes in at 39 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Vermont does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $107,330 you keep $79,363, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $82,127 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $112,260, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Vermont's median for mechanical engineers is $107,330, about 3.09% above the national figure and 15 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.
- Mechanical engineers ranks 39 of 453 occupations by median in Vermont, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Vermont income tax, retained pay for mechanical engineers on $107,330 is $79,363. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $82,127 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 $112,260 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $83,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $107,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $150,380 |
| This salary | $107,330 |
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 | $79,363 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $84,337 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,662 |
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 | $100,261 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,439 |
| 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 engineers in Vermont earn under $107,330 and half over. The published range runs $83,820 at the tenth percentile to $150,380 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 $79,363, worked from $107,330. 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 39 of 453.
- One number stands for prices across all of Vermont, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $82,127, the adjusted value of that $107,330 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 39 of 453 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for mechanical engineers in Vermont, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $83,820 to $150,380; 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 $79,363, on $107,330 for work ranking 39 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 39 of 453 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Vermont, so $82,127 — the adjusted value of that $107,330 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 39 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 $112,260 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $83,820 at the bottom tenth to $150,380 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $82,127 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, $79,363 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $112,260. 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 ($83,820 to $150,380) 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 $82,127 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 $79,363 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.