Optometrists in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$98,054
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$39,236
28.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$101,468
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
$137,290
Kept after tax
$98,054
Worth in national money
$101,468
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Vermont sits in the middle of the pack for optometrists. The median is $137,290, ranking 21 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within Vermont this is well-paid work. Of 453 occupations with published figures in the state, optometrists ranks 12 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Vermont does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $137,290 you keep $98,054, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $101,468 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $146,240, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Vermont occupies the middle band for optometrists: a median of $137,290, ranking 21 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Ranked against every occupation Vermont publishes a median for, optometrists sits 12 of 453 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Vermont income tax, retained pay for optometrists on $137,290 is $98,054. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $101,468 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 $146,240 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $137,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $194,190 |
| This salary | $137,290 |
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 | $98,054 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $105,104 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,691 |
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 | $126,975 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,513 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Vermont earn less than $137,290. The published range is $60,290 up to $194,190, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $98,054 take-home in Vermont comes from $137,290. 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 12 of 453.
- Two cautions on $101,468, the adjusted value of that $137,290 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Vermont. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 12 of 453 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for optometrists in Vermont the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $60,290 to $194,190. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $98,054, from $137,290, 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 12 of 453 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 51 for it.
- This $101,468 adjusted figure, worked from $137,290, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 12 of 453 in the state. The occupation ranks 12 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 $146,240 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 $60,290 and the top tenth $194,190 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $101,468 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 $98,054.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $146,240. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($60,290) and the ninetieth ($194,190) 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 $101,468 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 $98,054 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.